The Good Looking Loony Toons Vampire Guy
by jajo
Summary: Sequel to The Good Looking Loony Toons Stalker Guy, winner of the TwiFic Best Crackfic WIP. The sequel will focus on E&B's relationship, as well as continue with A&J's story.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

There once was a little girl whose father told her she was a beautiful fairy princess and she believed. She lived in a cottage at the edge of the woods at the outskirts of a small village. She, her mother, and her father lived happily as a family, together, content.

Then one day a terrible accident occurred and the little girl was struck by a van while riding her bicycle home. The driver of the car, who was a powerful man about town, was a known alcoholic, and he was heavily intoxicated when he plowed into the little girl.

Her father blamed himself for his daughter's injuries. He had been following her in his patrol car and saw the powerful man swerving down the road. The same powerful man who her father had pulled over for driving erratically the week before and yet had not arrested—despite the open container of Jim Bean in the backseat of the blue van and the strong smell of alcohol emanating from the man's breath.

The little girl thought she was going to die. And she was sad she was going to leave her mother and father. She tried to be brave and ignore the pain. But it hurt so much. She was vaguely aware of being placed gently on a stretcher and then her next memory was of Forks County Hospital. Glaring lights. Incessant beeping. Her father crying hysterically. Then her fairy prince came and saved her. He was beautiful, with reddish brown hair and yellow eyes. He smiled at her, and she knew that she the fairies had sent their prince come to rescue their princess. She tried to protest as darkness took her once more.

After she awoke again, she found her father and mother staring at her. Relief and joy etched on their faces because she opened her eyes.

She was glad to see her parents but so sad that her prince was not there.

Then he entered her room, clad in the long white coat doctor's used, and she knew her fairy princess was hiding his true identity so as not to scare her parents.

She was disappointed that her fairy prince had not whisked her away to their fairy world but she knew that she was still just a child and that it would kill her parents if she disappeared suddenly.

"Izzy," said her prince. "My name is Edward Masen, and I am your doctor," he said with a mischievous smile. Then he winked at her.

She blushed in response, so captivated was she by his every movement, the rest of the world faded away. She didn't bother to hear the conversation between her parents and her prince so absorbed was she on the movement of his beautiful full lips, the thick lashes that framed his soulful eyes, and the messy hair that he incessantly drove his long elegant fingers through.

"Izzy, you're making great progress," he said with a wonderfully wide grin. "You'll be out of here in no time."

Then he grabbed his chart and turned toward the door.

"No," cried Isabella. "Don't leave me. You can't go…. You can't. It's not fair." Hot tears ran down her cheeks and she tried to move, but her poor little body was held tightly in the unforgiving embrace of white plaster casts.

"Izzy," her mother protested, embarrassed and surprised that her sweet child was acting so bratty.

"Now, Izzy, Dr. Masen is a very busy person…" started her father in the patronizing voice that would one day grate on her nerves terribly as a teenager.

"And will definitely be here later on tonight to check on my favorite patient,' said her prince. He waved goodbye and left quickly.

Her heart ached but she consoled herself with the fact that he would return.

And he did. Twice, sometimes three times a day, she would see her prince. Or Edward, as he insisted she call him.

He watched her eat lunch, scratched her nose when it itched terribly and listened to all her childish musings. He was her first true friend besides her parents.

And then weeks later, he began to cut off pieces of her cast and she was freed from her cocoon little by little. He applauded her as she learned to wiggle her toes again, swung her about after her first step, and hugged her when she rose from her bed solely without help for the first time.

And the more she spoke with him, the more she knew he truly was a prince. How else could you explain the iciness of his touch or the way his skin sparkled in the sunlight? Secrets she kept to herself and told no one about.

And when she was well enough, he permitted her to follow him around the hospital on his rounds. She listened attentively as he treated everyone with kindness and respect.

And then came the sad day when she had to leave the hospital. She would miss all the nurses and doctors who she'd come to know over the nine and a half month since the accident.

But leaving Dr. Masen was more than she could bare, and she cried the entire ride home.

After that Izzy became a renowned klutz. Constantly ending up in one accident or another, which caused her to be whisked away to the hospital emergency room where her gorgeous prince awaited, eager to treat her every bump and bruise.

Until one day, when she was twelve and at the cusp of her womanhood, she discovered she could volunteer as a candy striper. This meant she could still be near her prince, while avoiding pain.

Life was good.

Edward took his little shadow to dinner in the hospital cafeteria every Friday night after her hospital chores were done, and she weekly ignored the fact that he never ate. Fairy princes didn't have to eat real food after all.

"Izzy Bitsy, eat!" he would say, encouraging her. "You need food so you can grow."

"When I grow up I want to be a doctor just like you," she confided in him, as she ate her apple. (The first time he handed her an apple, she'd instinctively thrown it away: she did NOT want to keep the doctor away.)

"You're going to be a great doctor, Izzy," he'd respond. "You are smart as a whip and you love helping people."

She loved it when he forgot himself and used phrases that she was more comfortable hearing come out of her grandfather or grandmother's mouth. As if he was much older than the 28 years of age he claimed.

"I want to be a doctor and work here with you in the hospital!" she'd declare.

"That's a wonderful goal, Izzy! The community of Forks really needs more doctors, especially homegrown ones who can appreciate the locals' needs."

_Will you wait for me, my prince?_ She always wanted to ask but never had the courage to utter out loud.

Then one day, on the cusp of her thirteenth birthday, her prince left her. Without a word or phone call or letter, Dr. Masen joined Doctors Without Borders and disappeared into the wilds of Iraq. Never to be heard from again.

Izzy couldn't understand why he'd left. Why hadn't he revealed himself to her? Told her when he was coming back?

She would have waited forever for him.

The woman child poured over every conversation and every gesture he made and concluded it must be _her_ fault. She must have done something to push her fairy prince away. So horrid was she, so tired of her was he, that he had to escape in the middle of the night without so much as a "Bye".

The child's world continued to crumble. Her parents divorced and she was forced to leave her beloved father and move with her mother first to Phoenix, Arizona, the land with no water, and then to Jacksonville, Florida, the land with too much water. And too many mosquitoes. Fucking bloodsuckers.

And as she became a woman, she realized many truths. Fairies didn't exist, she wasn't a princess, and her father wasn't perfect.

Hell, she even realized how weird Dr. Masen was, letting her hang around him so much. What in the blue blazes had her parents thinking? He was a single male with a huge Peter Pan complex, fitting pretty accurately into a pedophile's profile.

How could she have been so stupid and naïve?

Just as she once was so proud of herself, Izzy now despised all that she was in only the way a teenager can. She contemplated on more than one occasion ridding the world of her hideous existence.

But then a true miracle occurred. A small, pixie like girl walked to where Izzy was sitting in the library during lunch, hiding from the world.

"Hello," said the pixie. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Izzy looked around to see who the girl was speaking to. _No one on either side of me… Strange…Who is she talking to? _

"No, silly, I want to talk to you," said the pixie. "I noticed you're reading one of my favorite books by Madeleine L' Engle."

Izzy squirmed uncomfortably. Although she'd done her best to squash the child she'd once been, she hadn't been able to completely give up on her need for fantasy.

"I love that book," the girl said brightly. "I'm Alice and you must be Isabella. You're new to this school like I am."

"Izzy."

Alice cocked her head to one side and said, "You don't look like an Izzy. You're so elegant and pretty. I think I'll call you Bella."

And Izzy learned some new truths that year.

First, Alice loved to talk. Even if you didn't talk back, she'd talk to you. Incessantly, until you broke down.

Two, Alice had chosen Izzy and had wanted Izzy. Therefore, Izzy had worth.

Third, no matter how she might fight against it, Alice was an act of nature to be reckoned with and by the time she started college everyone, including her parents, called her Bella.

Fourth, Bella was smart, caring, and worthy. She might not be a princess but that was ok. She didn't need a prince to rescue her.

_She_ was going to be the one rescuing from now on. She'd make her own destiny.

And _I_ still really wanted to be a doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Angela's POV**

I'd had to teleport to the mainland, because the island was too small, too sparsely populated for the sudden presence of a new person to go unnoticed. Anyone on the island had to get there by boat and the locals kept a close eye on who landed on their little piece of paradise. It was one of the reasons I loved the island so much.

I boarded the ferry at Bar Harbor, smooshed in among tourists and locals, many of whom knew me by name and said hello. The ferry permitted up to fifty people on board and we were lucky if we have thirty souls interested in going to my destination or its much bigger sister island. It had stopped bothering me long ago that everyone else on board the ferry was white but me. I was a melting pot of many different races and ethnicities, but that was true of most old witch families. And not one other person on board was an Other.

The Webers had been visiting the island for centuries and we'd always been welcome by the locals. The tourist, however, eyed me speculatively, as if I was some interesting local landmark or oddity. I wish I had brought Jake along, because the tourist reactions to my big hulk of a husband would have been hysterical.

I could just see some idiot asking if Jake was a Sasquatch. I bet you Jake would have been flattered: he took such pride in his strength and size. I missed him.

I brought my hand close to my side and gave a little wrist flick. Suddenly the tourists were much more interested in the beautiful mountain views of the mainland as we sped down the coast and to the island than in the young Eurasian woman conversing with the grizzled old captain of the ferry.

I could feel my spirit lightening as we got closer, as I inhaled the brisk sea air deeply and felt the breeze chap my cheeks. I wish I'd brought Jake with me but I still needed to overcome a terrible character flaw before I allowed him and Bella to meet again. It was hard enough to allow them to speak on the phone, but I needed to be stronger before I permitted them to actually meet again. Their reunion would happen soon but not today.

Instead, today, I had to be the bearer of bad news and intrude on Bella's newfound sense of peace. She'd been sounding so strong and confident over the phone. So different from before when I'd first spirited her away.

My mother said she was ready to quit hiding. I hoped she was right.

As we pulled up to the dock of Little Cranberry Island, there were men on the dock ready to shore the boat up to the steep plank-way we had to climb up to get onto the island. I looked around at my beloved home away from home and was dismayed to see two large luxury yachts moored at the two spots at the dock reserved for visiting boats.

"We've had a real haul of young men here recently," the Captain chortled, startling me out of my musings. "They all claim to be artists or something—here to join the local arts guild. They've practically taken over this wee island. You be careful there Mz . Weber, 'cause a good looking girl like yourself is going to be inundated with suitors, you are." Despite the irritation I felt at his words, I enjoyed the burr of his Maine accent and the worry I detected behind it.

"Captain Mac, I'm no longer a single gal," I told him with a huge grin. "I've gotten married."

"Aye, yer mother told me _all_ about it," winked Mac, patting my shoulder.

_Oh dear, I really hope my mom had left out a LOT of the details of my mating. _I felt the heat of blood rising to my cheeks, and I had trouble meeting Mac's eyes.

It was actually pretty funny that Mac was putting on this grandfatherly act since he actually had been my senior high school prom date.

He and all the locals knew that the Webers were different, magical. But they accepted us anyway and, with our help, this little rock off the mainland flourished.

"I hear that he is a real prince," Mac continued ribbing me. "And there's a real _connection_ between the two of ye'." He lifted one of his eyebrows and gave me a leer.

_Oh, shit! My flaky mother had told everyone the story. I was going to kill her. Or at least take away her ability to speak for the next hundred years. _

"Angela," Mac murmured softly, dropping the hokey burr he'd been using to thrill the tourists. "I am happy that you have finally found your mate, and I know you think you're all powerful but those men that have been camping outside your house… they're not a good lot."

I sighed and gave Mac a kiss on the cheek good-bye. "Thanks for watching out for me, old friend."

He helped me off the boat and onto the plank-way. The locals were always the first off the boat because the tourists weren't sure whether to trust the rickety, old metal plank way, covered with barnacles and rust.

The island was so small, that the preferred mode of transportation was bicycle. There were a handful of cars, but not one was in sight. Not that I needed a car. I scurried down the dock, past the restaurant, museum, and art gallery and paused before the town field.

Across the field were dozens of tents, waiving crazily in the strong sea breeze. Dozens of handsome young men stood chatting idly by the tents, occasionally stopping to stare at the proud blue two-story Victorian house at the top of the hill. Discarded easels, canvases, paint brushes, and other paraphernalia an artist would use were littered all over the ground.

I cursed softly underneath my breath. The gathering had doubled in size since the last time I was here.

The sharks were definitely circling: I had never seen so many single Other males in one location. The small island of Little Cranberry off the coast of Maine had significantly added in population since I'd secreted Bella away to my family's ancestral home. The locals were two hundred and sixty-eighty hardy souls who lived here year round. During the summer months, many of the abandoned houses on the island were rented out and filled, increasing the island population to maybe fifty more.

I counted at least sixty Other males milling around, and I knew that was just the tip of the ice burg. Many of the Other males I sensed could not show their face in public or come out while the sun still hung in the air.

_Damn, I hope the protective ring I'd drawn around the island was holding. _If any of these asshats had decided to snack on one of my locals, I was going to be _very_ unhappy.

Typically, I cut across the field to get to the house on the hill but with the thirty or so Other males blocking my way, I decided to just follow the main street up the hill to the blue house that overlooked the bay, paint and fixtures perfectly preserved despite the punishing sea air. I was a little put out that I wouldn't get to munch on any wild blue berries on the way, but the bushes bordered the town field. Those creeps better not have hurt any of the blueberry bushes.

Of course, with the hex I put on them, anyone who treated the plants poorly would be _very_ sorry. Nothing like losing all your hair all at once to make you reexamine how you treat nature…

It's good to be a sorceress.

I strolled briskly up the hill, ignoring the eyes following me. Yanking open the gate of the white picket fence and sending a brief hello to the climbing roses and summer garden, I climbed up to the screened in wrap around porch and entered. I felt a pleasant buzz as the wards that protected the house greeted me.

I was so distracted by assessing the house's security measures that I plowed straight into a whale. Crap! Have to stop thinking of her that way.

"Wow." I hadn't seen Bella in a month and the girl had _expanded_. When she'd first come to the island two months pregnant she hadn't been showing at all. Now, four months later she was looking,.. uh…_very_ healthy. The Misfits t-shirt she had on looked more like a tankini and barely covered the girls, which also were also looking _very_ healthy, although squished, in a too small bra. I looked down at my own much more modest chest and wondered how Jake would feel about magically enhanced breasts.

"I know I am huge," complained Bella as she maneuvered her large belly around the one of the many potted plants my mother had on the porch. "Ang, did you really have to plop me down in an island where there is nothing to do but eat? And all the locals do is bake deserts or boil lobster?"

Little Cranberry's economy was supported primarily by mail order. Locals shipped out pastries, lobster, candy, and anything else they could create. The one room post office on the island sold more stamps then any other post office in the United States.

I giggled at Bella's complaints. "Normally, most people—especially ones who are preggers—wouldn't complain about having to eat lots of lobster and goodies." I waived my hand and suddenly Bella's shirt covered her belly and her bra wasn't strangling the puppies anymore.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks! Your mom keeps offering to help with the clothing situation, but whenever I give in I end up looking like the poster child for Woodstock, and right now the smell of patchouli makes me want to puke."

We hugged. And I felt a little kick from the little human inside Bella's belly.

"Bella, you look so very healthy," I told her, admiring the faint flush under her skin. "You definitely have the pregnancy glow. And your little girl just said hello to me."

What I left unspoken was how different she looked than when she first came to the island. She'd been a complete mess, crying constantly, and unable to function—almost catatonic.

Her condition had helped me convince Carlisle, who was acting as her OBGYN, to give her some more time to regroup before he ratted her location out to Edward.

And it had also helped that Edward was now… distracted.

"All this freakin' ocean air makes me hungry all the time," Bella complained. She gave me a toothy grin. "And baby is very happy to know her auntie Angela is here."

She looked out the screen porch, towards the tall pine forest that covered the island "And it's amazing how much this looks just like where I grew up. I almost feel like I'm back home in Forks—it's just so tranquil."

"It is so funny that you and Jake grew up together," I mused. Yes, it was funny. No, I was not jealous that Bella and Jake were actually fairly good friends when they were children. Or that she'd been his first kiss. I was his mate, right?

Okay, I was working on my jealousy issues. It was character flaw, and I would overcome it.

"There are more tents out in the field," I said. I turned to stare out at the group of men who were all staring straight at the porch, aware that the object of their desire was present.

"They haven't been bothersome," replied Bella, a blushing rising up her neck and onto her cheeks. If possible, she looked even lovelier. I squelched the desire to rip her eyes out. "If anything they've been… very welcoming. Very courteous."

"They're here because you are," I replied, a little snidely. _Damn, I needed to get better control of myself._ "They are not good guys, Bella. You need to be careful."

"I have been," she answered. "I haven't left the island and most of the time when I leave the house; I am with your mother."

Poor Bella, I would have gone stir crazy in her shoes. But instead of looking bothered about being locked away in gilded cage, Bella looked strangely content.

"Still," she mused, "I honestly don't know what the attraction is—why do they want _me_?"

"You're like an irresistible treat to them," I answered bluntly. "They sense your presence and it calls to them, sort of like the call of a siren."

She laughed at that analogy. "Me a siren? I don't think so! Your mom tried to explain it to me but I got lost in the metaphors about butterflies and lightening and Fate. She then composed a dance to the Fates and performed it for your dad and me. Sky clad."

Yeah, that sounded like my mom alright. Anyone surprised that I rebelled by becoming a straight laced teenager of the 1950s?

"Bella, you are a mate to an Other," I told her. "You are Edward's mate."

She started to protest and I held up a hand to shush her.

"It doesn't matter if you want to be or not," I told her. "I can feel it as can any other magical being around you."

"So?" she asked, worrying her lip. "I'm not any of their mates."

"No, but we can all tell you are not joined," I replied calmly. I needed to make Bella aware of the danger she was in, but I didn't want to upset her in her delicate condition. "My mother and I have been trying to give you time to come to terms with your pregnancy and your status as Edward's mate, but we can no longer afford to keep you in the dark. Bella, you are singing to the predator in all of us. We all want to consume you because your blood, your essence, is suddenly our favorite food."

"Ugh, so now I am big walking Twinkie?"

"Yep."

"Do you want to… consume me?"

"Even witches can be predators, Bella," I answered, a bit uncomfortably. There was definitely a part of my being demanding I suck Bella's soul out of her body so I could increase my own power. A part of me that guaranteed I would be the most powerful sorceress ever if I could add her essence to my arsenal.

And there was another part of me that was so jealous of Bella that I wanted to scream. I didn't want to mention that to Bella. It made me feel like the worse friend ever. And I _knew _that it was mainly because she was not joined. _Mainly…_

And people didn't think I had a dark side. Ha!

"What about Maryanne, your mother?" Bella asked, suddenly wan and sickly.

My mother teleported suddenly onto the porch at the mention of her name, gathering Bella into her arms. Maryanne was wearing an ankle length tunic and her curly, long, dark hair was unbound, hanging down her back, but adorned with tiny gems. She only looked a year or two older than the pregnant girl she held in her arms.

"Angela Elizabeth Weber, you are scaring this poor girl half to death," my mother scolded, clucking her tongue at me. "Come now, child, let's make you some nice chamomile tea."

Giving me a dark glance over Bella's head, my mother escorted her through the backdoor and into the warm kitchen that was the heart of Casa Weber.

Like a chastised school child, I followed behind and shut the door. I did another quick scan of the protective wards and was glad to see that my mother had been renewing the powerful security perimeter I had set up around the house.

My mother sat Bella at the square kitchen table and beckoned I sit across from my friend. She sat at a third chair next to Bella.

"Bella," my mother said gently. "It is time you know a couple of truths. You are going to be a mother soon, and you are going to have to be strong enough to make choices for both you and your little one."

Bella nodded.

"Angela is right. All those young men out there have been attracted to the island because of you. One of the ways the Fates ensure that their designated pairs join is to make any un-mated mate irresistible prey to all Others. It is a way to blackmail them into joining."

Bella uttered a small shriek. "What? No! I can't! No, that's not fair. I don't want to… I just can't…"

"Shhh… child," my mother said, stroking Bella's hand. "The older Others barely feel the un-mated's call but it is much hard on the younger Others."

"Even Angela?" asked Bella softly.

"My daughter is a powerful sorceress and a friend who truly loves you, but even she is feeling the pull. It is feeding her own insecurities and making her incredibly jealous over your friendship with her mate."

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. I never could keep a secret from my mother. Suddenly, living year round on the La Paz reservation with Jake was looking petty darn attractive.

"But Jake and I were just friends when we were kids--we never liked each other or anything," Bella protested, looking at me earnestly so I could see the truth in her eyes.

I knew Bella's feelings for Jacob had never been more than friendship. But I couldn't say the same about Jacob's feelings.

The boy was entirely too damn honest about his romantic history.

"Bella," I confessed miserably, "my mother is right. I know that Jacob loves me and that we are joined, but I do have an irrational jealousy about your childhood friendship. I think the fact that you are an un-joined mate is exacerbating my feelings of inadequacy."

"I can't believe that someone as beautiful and wonderful as you could ever feel inadequate," declared Bella, her fervor increasing the healthy glow. "You're a strong, independent woman!"

"I am?" The self doubt that had been planted by Jacob's confession and bloomed in lovely, glowing Bella's presence colored my voice.

"Yes, and I've seen how Jacob looks at you. He is totally in love."

"Angela," my mother sighed. "I love you dearly, my darling, but I feel I failed you. You are one of the most powerful witches in the world, princess to the werewolves, and, most importantly, my daughter. You need to count your blessings and loosen up a bit. You are one kick ass witch."

My mother was absolutely right. Bella was absolutely right. When had I allowed this self doubt to take over?

_Ever since the night of Alice and Jasper's joining ceremony…_

"Angela, you cannot blame yourself for what happened to Jasper and Alice," my mother said gently, and it was my turn to get one of her hugs. I felt the jolt of calmness and love she sent me. I felt the shame and hurt hidden deep in my core start to lessen.

"What's wrong with Alice and Jasper?" squeaked Bella.

My mother and I looked at each other. She gave a nod of consent. Bella was strong enough to handle the whole truth.

We drank several cups of tea as I explained the events of the joining ceremony and the resulting aftermath.

"So you can't help them at all?" asked Bella, her eyes puffy from the tears she'd shed.

My own eyes were probably just as puffy and I gave a quick sniff. "I specifically was forbidden from helping either Jasper or Alice. And all joined couples, including my parents and the Cullens, were forbidden from communicating with Alice. The only one left to protect Alice is Edward."

"But Alice and Jasper are joined, right?" Bella pointed out, while rubbing her belly. "Why does Edward need to protect her? She's not singing to Other males?"

"No," I replied. "Unlike you, Alice doesn't have a field full of suitors."

Bella groaned at the reminder that she was the object of so many Other's males desires.

"They just want to eat me, remember?"

My mother burst out laughing. "Bella, remember that men have more than one appetite! And that a woman can be consumed in many different ways—eaten in many different ways."

"Ewwww!"

_My sentiments exactly._

"Obviously, the joining of a man and woman is not _too_ gross, my child," my mother said, patting Bella's engorged belly.

"Actually, it wasn't all that great," Bella said with a shudder.

"Really?" It was my turn to squeak. "Bella, did some guy force you to do something that you…"

"No!" Bella interrupted. "I wanted to…at least I thought I wanted to… it just wasn't all that great."

"The sex you mean?" my mother asked candidly.

"Yes!" Bella said, burying her face into her hands.

"That's because it wasn't with your mate," my mother said with a lusty chuckle. "Back in the '20s I tried it with a couple of times before I met Angela's dad, and I kept wondering what the big deal was about sex. I mean, honestly, I felt like a toilet or something. I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to get messy like that when masturbation was so much fun and so much more tidy."

"Mom!" I moaned, completely embarrassed and grossed out by my mother's over sharing. This was why I could never leave my mother alone with Jake's parents.

"Then I met Andy and within five minutes had the best orgasm of my life," she closed her eyes and smacked her lips. "Angela was born nine months later."

"Wow!" Bella said, stunned. "I guess that's why Edward was able to get me off so quickly, even though he was eating Alice out at the time... I mean _healing_ her. The boy definitely has skills."

She and my mother broke into giggles. They'd obviously done a lot of bonding during Bella's stay here.

_Kill me now. _I contemplated crawling under the table and curling up into a ball.

"Um, Angela?" my mother questioned. "You and Bella are leaving tonight, correct? Because I just realized that I have some really… big plans with your father."

_Think of puppies. Think of the bright sun on your skin. Think of Jake. _

Okay, I can breathe again.

"I'm leaving?" yelped Bella.

"Bella, we need you to help Alice," my mother replied, her calming touch on Bella once more. "We need you to go back."

"But why does Alice need my help if she's joined?"

"Because she's very vulnerable as a human right now," I explained. "Jasper had a lot of enemies who would be thrilled to kill or kidnap his mate. And they've been trying to do just that since the ceremony."

"Oh, hell."

"Oh, no the demons aren't really a problem," my mother said, not realizing Bella had spoken figuratively. "Jasper has never had a problem with the denizens of hell. It's mainly the Volturri and their ilk who would revel in hurting the General."

"And exactly how is an almost seven month pregnant _human_ supposed to protect Alice?"

"I am forbidden to protect Alice, but I am not forbidden to help you," I replied slowly, allowing my words to sink in. "I can cast a whole bunch of protective spells around you and, as long as you're near Alice, she'll be an unintended beneficiary of the spells."

"Ah, a loop whole," Bella said, understanding.

"My Angela is a sly one," my mother said, proudly.

Ok, I'll let her keep her voice a little longer.

"But isn't Edward protecting Alice right now? Why do you need me?"

"Yes, Edward has been keeping her safe, but he cannot be with her _all_ the time. Trust me, he is trying but Alice is starting to chafe at the bit. He's at his wits end trying to think up excuses to be with her."

"I can't believe Alice hasn't killed him yet," Bella chuckled. "She hates having anyone cramp her style."

"Yeah, he's had to be really creative."

"Really? What's his cover story?"

"He's her boyfriend."

An hour later, my ears were still ringing from Bella's surprised shriek. I hadn't even gotten to mention the field of un-mated Other women camped outside Edward's place.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is dedicated to RoseArcadia and TallulahBelle for encouraging me to get back to writing. Thanks, chicas!**

**Edward's POV  
**

"I THINK IT'S A BANSHEE," my operative thought, hard, at me. She was still getting used to my telepathic abilities so she didn't realize thinking hard meant she was practically screaming in my head. If the girls kept this up, I was going to have a bloody headache by the end of our mission. I was actually feeling pretty proud our concerted efforts to track down yet another assassin, when Jada finished her shouted thought with "SUGAR LIPS!"

Son of a bitch.

I knew that she and the other girls… excuse me, _ladies_ (although I do use that term rather loosely for some of them) really couldn't help themselves. The Fates had set it up so I was their own personal brand of heroin, super attractive to unmated Other females. Hell, I was catnip to human females as well.

And since my own mate had rejected me, I have to admit that it was pretty cool.

What? I am trapped in the body of a seventeen year old, I've never had a mature relationship with a female, and girls have pretty much treated me like horse manure my entire life. First, when I was human they thought I was a lame punt-out. And then, later, when I became a vamp, I scared most humans until I became a doctor. And then women tried to marry me because of my title, rarely seeing beyond my stethoscope.

And the Others crowd were just as bad, treating me like trash because I was a vampire and therefore at the very bottom of the Other's social heap. Vamps were (and in some quarters still are) scorned by the other species. We weren't even recognized by the Other's Counsel as a species until sixty or so years ago when good old Jasper championed our cause.

Other species were (are) envious of vampires because we're the only ones who can create more of our kind without natural childbirth or the Fates' intervention. The running joke—never said in front of a vamp, of course—is to refer to us as cockroaches.

It's like I've been the geeky kid in high school for my entire life and, suddenly, over night, I've become Doogie Howser or Marty McFly or any John Cusack-playing-a-teenager character. (Yes, I have a particular fondness for eighties popular media. Vamps don't sleep and we have a photographic memory—both a blessing a curse since I can never get back the 2 ½ hours I wasted on Eyes Wide Shut.)

So, let me tell you, having an army of adulating females who are willing to cater to my _every_ need: pretty damn sweet. I didn't realize I was that shallow, but I am.

Too bad that's about where it ends.

I can admire the ladies around me, but none of them attract me. In fact, I feel slightly nauseous if I get too close to any unmated female. And every time I peak into their thoughts, I tend to see a porno starring you know who. I got over living vicariously through the fantasies ladies had of me many, many moons ago.

What women want can be really, really weird. And what they imagine…

_Yeesh, it's embarrassing._

I'd studied anatomy and the body's physiological processes in medical school, but girls… excuse me, _ladies_, took it all to another level. For example, who knew women liked so many different types of food involved in their sex play? It is perplexing. I can no longer look at strawberries in quite the same way.

But if I ever did get my hands on the mysterious, but wholly delectable Bella I'd have a lot of ideas of what I could do to her. These past four months have been a real education, and I'd love to get some practical, hands-on experience.

A soft growl erupted from me, escaping before I'd even realized I'd made the noise.

"Sorry, Edward," Jada stuttered, turning red. She knew I could read her mind and thought I was growling in response to her thoughts. She'd been reliving her fantasy of me, wrapped only in bacon, cleaning her dorm room. I had to give it to the girl… er, lady, credit: she was one of the few women who noticed me before I became a "babe magnet". And she'd found me attractive even back then. But then Jada _is_ weird.

Did I just refer to myself as a babe magnet? Damn, I'd been hanging out with Emmett too long. I can't believe I was actually starting to use the list of nicknames Emmett had composed for me.

"Alicia reports that the banshee is holed up in the girl's locker room on the third floor," Jada whispered to me.

Fuck, I had to get my head out of my ass. The assassin somehow managed to get past our surveillance without me even noticing.

"Ok, do you think you and she can handle the banshee?" I asked. "The banshee has good intelligence; Alice always takes a shower there after her belly dancing class on Thursdays. I want to intercede well before she gets within earshot of the banshee's wail."

"Yeah, I think we take down a banshee," she replied, tilting her head to one side, which caused the joints in her neck to make a sharp popping noise. Jada definitely was one scary bitch when she wanted to be. She gathered her long reddish blond hair up in a pony tail, a look of predatory anticipation showing on her pretty face. "The personal protection spells Angela cast on us have really come in handy, and we have Tallulah as back up."

Tallulah. Yikes. I actually felt a little bad for the banshee, despite the fact that she'd been hired to kill my best friend's girl, thereby plunging him into an eternal torment of starvation and loneliness. Tallulah was a were-dragon who tended to breathe fire first and ask questions later. In truth she was a _very_ friendly girl, er lady, but I was still trying to grow back part of my left eyebrow that I'd lost after she'd sneezed one day. I felt like a heel, but I'd learned to keep at least five feet of room between us. Sometimes being man candy (thank you again Emmett for giving me a list of names for my affliction) was dangerous.

"Let me see what Alice is up to," I told Jada, motioning her to stay in position. I tuned into my girlfriend's thoughts and sighed when I realized I was the object of her musings. Unlike pretty much every other girl on campus, she wasn't thinking about ways to please me so I could please her (insert lecherous eyebrow wiggle). Instead, she was wondering how she could ditch me early this evening so she could catch the season premiere of Project Runway.

I looked through her eyes and saw that the belly dancing class was almost over. As always, I searched through the participants for my Bella, and my heartbeats felt painfully leaden as I realized she was not in the classroom. Hope was a cruel thing: it didn't matter that logically I knew Bella was gone. She'd run off the shortly after meeting me, so repulsed by me that she couldn't bear to be anywhere around me.

I felt like banging my head against a wall yet again for being so stupid. I can't believe I'd touched her intimately while supposedly conducting a medical treatment on her friend's vagina with my tongue. She must hate me. Despise me.

"If I leave now, I can intercept Alice just as she leaves her class," I told Jada. She nodded, and then moving with her odd, wolf-like elegance, disappeared around the corner.

I scanned the halls, and when I found them clear, ran at supernatural speed towards the stairs and then up three flights to Alice's classroom. Three seconds later, I was leaning casually outside Alice's classroom with my IPOD ear buds in.

I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and turned around to see black tufts in my vision. I looked down and saw a slightly flush Alice looking up at me.

I ignored the angry thoughts she was projecting at me and leaned in and gently brushed my lips against Alice's right she cheek, ignoring the punch of queasiness that hit my stomach.

I made her wait a second as I made a big show of pulling out my ear buds. I gauged her anger at my unexpected appearance, and she was nuclear. Alice was not happy that I was _always_ around, a natural consequence of my need to constantly protect her.

However, a large part of her anger towards me, although she didn't consciously understand this, was because I was not her mate. Her body and soul were seriously pissed that I was not Jasper. And she was also very… uh…frustrated. Newly mated Others tended to have long honeymoon periods filled with lots of sex.

Alice yearned for that sex, and she was literally angry that she wasn't getting any.

Thank goodness, when Angela had wiped her memory she'd also suppressed the need to throw up when any unmated male touched her. I guess the Sorceress wanted to leave open the possibility that Alice might find some nice normal male human and lead a nice, normal life with 2.5 kids, the white picket fence and all that jazz. So Alice wasn't grossed out every time I touched her, and I had learned to tolerate her touch.

My repulsion to touching had not been present when I'd "treated" Alice four months ago and healed her injuries with my curative saliva because both of our mates had been present then to counteract the gag reflex we should have felt. Unfortunately, they'd counteracted it too well…

"What are you doing here?" Alice practically screeched at me. "You're supposed to be in class!"

She ignored all the disapproving glances from the girls exiting the class, and I tried to ignore their sultry glances and "accidental touches" as they passed by, a few squealing excitedly at getting to cop a feel of the famous Edward Cullen, the campus beefcake. I managed to keep down this morning's bottled blood, type O positive, just barely.

"Class was canceled," I lied. I'd decided not to take a fall course load after the ill fated joining ceremony last spring, knowing that I'd have my hands full watching over my best friend's gal. It was time to distract Alice before she tried once again to break up with me. "And I have some great news to share!"

Alice sighed, realizing that she was being pissy for no obvious reason, and took a sip of from the water bottle that'd I'd prepared her. I'd put in pieces of cucumber to slightly sweeten the water and some sprigs of blessed mint to help soothe Alice's ragged soul.

Yes, she'd spent the night with me. We'd had breakfast together (pieces of my breakfast were discreetly tucked into a napkin each time Alice's attention wandered). Then I'd made her lunch and taken her bottled water out of the freezer, which I'd prepared for her the night before (so the ice would slowly melt during the day leaving behind an icy cold liquid by the afternoon). I then escorted her to her 10:30 AM class and bid her _adieu_ with a light kiss on her lips. It was our regular weekday routine.

"What was so important, Eddie-ward, that you couldn't wait until after I showered to tell me?" asked Alice, forcing a bright smile on her face. I instinctively covered my privates as I got an image of her kneeing me in the gonads so she could get to a hot, steaming shower.

This girl was ferocious about always looking her best. If vamps could have children, I'd be really worried right now.

"Sprite, you and I were nominated to the Royal Court for Homecoming," I told her, pretending to be excited. I was actually amazed by the news—especially since I was technically no longer a student at the university. Instead, I was the creepy guy who kept a really close eye on his coed girl friend. "We're in the running for King and Queen."

As I knew she would, Alice squealed and threw herself into my arms. I swallowed my bile and thought about my suffering friend Jasper as she laid tiny kisses across my jaw line. This was so wrong.

"That is _so_ awesome," Alice sang out. "Do you know what this year's colors for homecoming are?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that they're the school colors."

"Yuck! I look horrible in burnt orange!" she complained. "I wonder if it's too late to join the Homecoming committee and encourage a broader color range choice."

She looked up expectantly at me. "I think that's a great idea," I answered, silently asking for forgiveness from the University's forefathers, who were probably turning over in their graves. Damn, I think one is still alive and a powerful witchdoctor in Indiana. I had to make sure he didn't hear about Alice efforts to change the school's colors. The girl already had enough enemies for me to fight off—we didn't need any more.

"I know you will be the most beautiful girl there regardless of what color you wear," I told her. _Because Bella won't be there…_

"I need to go shopping to get the perfect gown. I want to call my mother this evening—she's napping right now 'cause the baby was up all night—and set something up this weekend. She has an in with a lot of the hot designers right now. I wonder if she can still fly to Paris right now if she's pregnant? I wonder if Chanel would be willing to fly a team here? Or should I go vintage? What do you think?"

I nodded encouragingly, not really answering any of her questions, and Alice was off again on her rampage, stopping occasionally to ask my opinion. Thank goodness I was a mind reader. I could tune her out and then figure out the appropriate response when she tried to engage me in the conversation. How the hell did Jasper stand all this talk about shopping and fashion? If not for my gift, I think my brain might have bled out of my ears long ago.

I picked up Alice's work out bag, and carefully escorted her into the elevator, down to the ground floor, and out the building. We strolled to her dorm, following a shaded pathway I purposefully chose. We'd already reached her door when Alice realized that she was still dressed in her workout sweats and "icky".

I chuckled at her petulant expression when she realized that she'd crossed campus looking other than perfectly coifed. What can I say? I enjoyed it when I foiled her plans and made her forget for a second about her appearance. I honestly wish for both our sakes that I could feel something more for her than the brotherly feelings I possessed because she really was a genuinely happy person. It would be so much easier given the fact that our mates were both out of picture.

And, as Alice had pointed out before, we make a striking couple. But I guess we had the next best thing: she kept me from feeling lonely and gave me a purpose in life after… well, when I really needed a reason to keep getting up each day (figure of speech since I don't sleep). I in turn provided her with the ultimate fashion accessory—a popular boy friend on her arm—and kept her safe.

"I'll let you take a shower and get ready, and then I'm taking you out to eat, Sprite, to celebrate," I told her. "I've made reservations at that Italian restaurant you love so much."

I turned to leave and stopped when I heard Alice's soft voice calling my name.

"Yes, love?" I turned and asked.

"You are the best boyfriend ever," she said, and she threw her arms around my neck and pressed her lips to mine fiercely. I checked her thoughts and she was fighting an internal battle, trying to convince her rebellious spirit that I _was_ the one she was destined to be with.

I patiently waited a bit and rubbed my own lips against hers, and then pretended to reluctantly pull my lips away from hers. Kisses like this one were a small sacrifice to make to keep Alice in my life.

"I'll be back in an hour, babe," I told her, flashing my trademark crooked smile that I knew hundreds of girls on campus craned their neck in my direction to see. Alice, _en contraire_, was unaffected by its legendary dazzling effects and merely smiled back at me. She gently closed her dorm room door.

I dropped my smile and bolted out of the dorm, climbing up the side of the building onto the roof. I took a running jump and managed to leap onto the building next to it—Spiderman had nothing on me—and then hopped from building to building until I got to the campus gym. I shimmied down the building's side and into the second floor girls' shower room, where a crowd of Others girls were standing guard over a slumped form. Damn, I mean ladies.

_LADIES, stud muffin._

I looked around and took a head count: a werewolf, were-dragon, sea hag, dark fairy, and a fury. Damn, the Fates curse might actually have given me a very powerful weapon in keeping Alice safe—these were some dangerous creatures at my disposal.

The ladies... hah! I got it right… all looked at me expectantly, with welcoming smiles on their faces.

"Excellent work, ladies," I congratulated them, and I swear Tallulah, the were-dragon, actually moaned in response to my praise. I moved further away from her and her eyebrow burning breath, careful to mark the five feet distance between the two of us. "Is the banshee dead?"

"Uh, no," said Alicia timidly. As a fury, she came from a tribe of women demons known for the ferociousness and their large claws. Alicia had the deadly fingernails, but lacked the need to mindlessly slaughter.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise that the banshee still breathed.

"She's unmated," hissed the sea hag, Jessica. "We feel she would be a powerful ally, especially if she could be persuaded to disclose who commissioned her services."

Oh. That was a really good plan. It just depended on me being able to….

Ohhhhh…

"So just stand over by her for a while and let your mojo do its thing," demanded Jada, doing a shooing motion with her claws towards to fallen woman.

I obeyed, feeling very foolish. "My mojo? What am I Austin Powers?"

As if I was the funniest guy in the world---a real Johnny Carson—the girls broke into giggles.

"You're so funny, honey" gushed Tallulah.

"Yeah, he's a real ham," added Jada, licking her lips. I tried to block out the thought she unintentionally projected—loudly. "AND HAM IS MY FAVORITE LATE NIGHT SNACK."

I stood in the corner by the fallen banshee, feeling awkward under the penetrating stare of the ladies present. I swear they did not blink at all. Well, except Tallulah, who appeared to either have something in one of her eyes or was fluttering her eyelashes furiously at me. I checked her thoughts and realized that she was desperately trying not to sneeze. I ducked just in time to avoid becoming a roasted marshmallow. One of the stalls caught fire and Tallulah reached into her large canvas bag, pulling out a miniature fire extinguisher. Without missing a beat, she pulled the tab and efficiently put out the fire. "Sorry 'bout that you all," she called over her shoulder.

"No harm done," I replied.

All fours girls simpered at me. Just for the record: sea hags should never simper. It is frightening. Even to a vampire.

I looked down at the banshee and although she was still in unconscious she was now turned towards me and her withered, old lady hands were reaching for me.

Yech. The mojo was working.

"So Alice and I were nominated for Homecoming court," I told the girls, trying desperately to start a conversation and distract myself from the husk of a female on the floor who was getting worked over by my mojo.

"Of course you were, lov…. I mean, Edward," giggled Jada, a bit shrilly. "You're the most popular guy on campus."

"But I'm not even a student anymore," I protested.

"Doesn't matter," hissed Jessica. "That was just a small technicality and we were able to persuade the student body president to make an exception in your case."

Man, I hope that tomorrow's top story has nothing to do with pieces of the student president's body washing up on a distant Mexican beach.

"She's waking," Alicia said nervously, her breath hitching a bit.

I looked down at the banshee and fought the need to recoil in disgust. The best way to describe a banshee is a skeleton with pale, sallow green skin, covered with pock marks, stretched painfully tight over its frame.

"Where am I?" asked a female voice with a strong Irish burr. "And who is this luscious _ginker _of a man?"

**End Note:**

**Sorry.**

**Being sick took its toil but catching up on work after being out sick a week absolutely sucked. Hard. **

**Thanks for your patience, chicas. Thank you as well for all the great reviews—you all have kept me sane.**

**I promised a couple of peeps I'd name story characters after them while I was on antibiotics. I lost the list. Please email/ review and remind me of who you are…**

**I **_**may**_** already have the next chapter written.**

**Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Alice POV**

I leaned my head back and enjoyed the fall breeze rifling through my hair. I stared up at the leaves dancing in the wind, just starting to change color and lose their grip on the tree limbs they'd been clinging to, ready for an adventure on their own.

I allowed my mind to wander and it settled on its favorite topic. My relationship with Edward. Sometimes it was really tiring dating the most popular guy on campus.

_I know, I know_. I could just hearing my mother saying "We should all be so lucky to have such problems," while trying to push another cup of steaming mate down my throat.

_But when I say I am dating the most popular guy on campus, I mean I'm really dating the number one catch: the one guy every single female on campus (and some males) want as their significant other._

He even had groupies.

No other non-rock star guy I knew had a fan club of women who literally camped outside his dorm room window. In tents. I am not sure why campus police was still permitting their presence except that I've heard they've declared their worship of Edward a religion. And half the girls on campus were wearing red shirts with his picture plastered on front, so I got to see him smirking everywhere I turned, his nose snuggled between the female populations' breasts.

I received tons of hate mail at work, not because I was dating THE Edward Cullen but because I placed wearing a t-shirt with his pic on the front as a fashion _don't_ in my weekly column.

A shiver ran down my spine. The wind had picked up a bit, and, although it was still early in the season, one of the still green leaves decided to leave its tree early. I watched it start to gently descend, only to be picked up in a brisk stream of wind and made to dance around the tree tops before it disappeared out of sight, off for its own adventures.

_Actually_, I mused, _considering I'm the gal dating THE Edward Cullen, his groupies treat me pretty darn well, considering. _In fact, I was now rooming with the ringleader of his followers: Jada.

_Yeah, odd._

Thank goodness she had stopped crying whenever she sees me. In truth, Jada had turned out to a pretty loyal, if slightly weird, friend. She gave PMS a _whole_ new meaning though, and I swear the girl got a five o'clock shadow everyday.

But as a roomie, she rocked. Especially since she tended to camp out in front of Edward's dorm window, which meant I typically didn't have to deal with her snoring every night. Of course that was on the nights I actually got to sleep alone in my own bed. Typically, I spent the night in Edward's dorm room.

He had bunk beds. I got the top.

After waking up with no memory four months ago, I lived with my parents for about a month before I went totally crazy. Both of my loving parents (who were basically strangers to me) pretty much suffocated me. They treated me like a fragile china doll, watching my every move to make sure I didn't even stub my toe. Coupled with my mom's very scary pregnancy hormones, which caused her to continuously eat and scrapbook, moving in with Jada was a very attractive alternative.

And my sweetie, Edward, was actually the person who suggested Jada and I live together. He had known she needed a roommate and that I was looking to move onto campus. He was always looking out for me that way.

He said that no one in their right mind would mess with Jada's lair, and he was right. She had a reputation for being a bitch, a real man eater.

That was just an example of how Edward really _was_ the perfect boyfriend: he held open doors, always insisted on paying for our meals, took me out dancing, and was always—always—around.

_Always. _

_He is steady and dependable. _

_He is so considerate. It's like he can anticipate all of my needs._

_He really is the perfect boyfriend._

I started plucking at the grass around me, absentmindedly causing bald spots around our favorite spot.

_Even my parents loved him._ He joined us for Sunday lunch every week after we all attended church together. Both of my parents had pulled me aside at different times to tell me how impressed they were with him. Well, my mom actually said something in Spanish that translated into something like "Wed him, bed him, and make beautiful babies before some other hussy does."

_Yeah, well there's a catch, mommy dearest. _Edward was a deeply religious Christian who practiced abstinence. _Yeah, like the Jonas Brothers._

He took his vows to stay chaste until marriage very seriously, which meant I had a serious case of blue balls. Well, I would have if women could have testicles. I didn't. Didn't really matter, though. Not like my boyfriend would have even notice if I did.

_Come on, I hadn't gotten more than friggin' kiss in more than four months, cut a girl some slack, will you?_

Was I really so horrible for wanting sex? I swore my body was literally missing the feel of someone on top of it, caressing it, in it… And who knew, maybe I was getting tons of sex before my amnesia.

But that was moot now._ I mean, I loved Edward, right? _

Why did I keep having this argument with myself?

What was not to love? _Please refer to the perfect boyfriend rant above if you need a recap. A girl would be crazy to give up THE Edward Cullen because he won't sleep with her, right?_

I was sick of my indecisiveness. _Enough with the pep talk. Alice, you have to be true to yourself girl_, I told myself sternly. Things just weren't working out with Edward. He was a nice guy, but there was no sizzle. No zing.

_  
And you're spending way too much time obsessing over this while envying leaves. I mean, really, girl leaves? They're not the best metaphor—sure they get to dance free but then they fall down, get tangled up with a bunch of other leaves, and end up rotting or burning to death in an inferno. _

_  
_I just wished I could burn up right now in some really hot, sweaty sex_. _Hell, even if Edward couldn't actually put it in me, there should be some sizzle from some frantic kisses and tantalizing groping, made all the hotter by skirting the edge of the forbidden. There were so many things we could be doing, without doing it all.

Why did I feel like I was the only one struggling with this? _Shouldn't Edward be forcing himself not to jump my bones?_ I wondered. Since I was totally moping anyway, I decided to finally out my deepest fear: _Sometimes…I think Edward is forcing himself to touch me. _

I'd have thought he was gay, but I didn't get that vibe from him either. I'd seen him around plenty of other guys and he had no prurient interest in them either--even though I was confused by the body glitter that he wore occasionally. One of his groupies was named Logan, and Edward doesn't treat him any differently and Logan _was_ pretty good looking. _At least I think Logan is a guy… Men can have breasts too, right?_

Honestly, it was like Edward was asexual. Not interested in sex. Period.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. Truth be told, I'd been trying to break up with Edward for the last couple of weeks, but every time I'd try to let him down gently, he'd get called away to battle some emergency at school or mediate a dispute between his groupies before I could even utter a sentence. Or he'd do something so wonderful that I'd be a complete bitch to break up with him afterwards. _People, he rescued a kitten two days ago for a little old lady._ Fate was really against me right now.

"Alice, darling, are you okay?" came Edward's voice from behind me. As usual, I was sitting under our favorite tree. I had been waiting in my regular spot for him to get out of class so we could have supper together, which was the beginning of our nightly ritual/ routine.

I looked up to see the man of the hour standing in front of me with a beautiful bouquet of pink pansies, my favorite flowers. Or at least they were according to my journals from _before _my amnesia.

My life was divided into BA and AA. Edward was definitely a part of my AA. In fact, he was a large, overwhelming part of my AA.

_Breathe, Alice._

"Sweetheart, you don't look well," Edward said with a look of concern on his face. He laid his ice cold hand on my cheek—I was so used to the icy contact that I barely flinched. .

I tried not to analogize Edward's lack of warmth to his feelings for me.

His lack of warmth was a medical condition that he'd explained to me: I'd honestly understood very little of it. Something about veins running further under the skin than the average person so his skin wasn't warmed by the running blood

_Me: fashionista, not science guru_. I took courses on the geology of gems to satisfy my science course credits and stayed far away from biology. Ick.

My movie star gorgeous boyfriend gave me a quick physical examination, which was definitely the perk of dating a third year med student. "You aren't running a fever, but you definitely look tense."

He leaned over and scooped me up into his arms, like I was a china doll. Behind our bench I heard a series of giggles and sighs. Edward's fan girls were in audience.

I tried to squelch the irritation I felt at being lifted up without permission, but I couldn't help feeling irritated. Edward definitely had a need to play He-Man, which I think was part of the reason he was dating me. He felt big in comparison to my petite build. He loved to be the freakin' hero, while I was stuck playing the damsel in distress.

"You look a little peaked," Edward murmured into my ear and he laid a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Is this all right?" He lifted me up a bit to indicate he was talking about carrying me like a baby. "I'm sorry I didn't ask to pick you up first but I was afraid you were going to faint."

_See, perfect, considerate boyfriend. I am a heel._

Edward turned towards his dorm and I was able to see who was watching us. It was the usual suspects: Jada and a group of four other girls: I'd _affectionately_ named them the five stooges.

"Jada, can you carry my flowers for me, please?" I asked my roommate. She blushed, stumbled while racing to grab the bouquet, probably blinded by batting her eyes so vigorously at my boyfriend. She carefully took the bouquet out of my grasp, and then ran back to her comrades who erupt into obnoxious giggles. They crowded around to admire the pink flowers. I could hear them analyzing Edward's worth as a boyfriend. The flowers seemed to be tipping him from the dreamy boyfriend category up to soul mate.

Edward walked carefully down the street, and I heard the feminine whispers and giggles that signaled our ever present chaperones were following.

I tucked my head into his chest, and took in a deep breath. Edward smelled almost like Axe cologne to me. His scent was close to it, but not exactly like the over the counter body wash. Instead, it is subtler, deeper, with an exotic spice undertone—almost like incense at church. Honestly, I love the smell. It probably the thing I like best about Edward.

Edward snorted suddenly, and I looked up at him questioningly. "What's so funny?"

"Uhhh… Just thinking about today's lecture in anatomy. Dr. Kelper is a hoot,"

"Huh.

I close my eyes, breathed in deep, and imagined myself lying in bed with Edward's head between my knees. I'd been working on this fantasy for a while and I have gotten really good at the details.

_So, yes, I do fantasize about my boyfriend. _

But….

_But…_

Recently, I've realized that I keep trying to bring in a third person into the fantasy. A man. A tall man whose features are frustratingly vague, but who's presence in my mind makes my blood sing.

If I concentrated hard enough on the fantasy, I can come up with little details. I don't know if the other man was a suppressed memory or a complete figment of my imagination, but slowly he has been coming into focus. I have been able to discern blond curls around his head and plump, bee stung lips that hover over a chin with a slight cleft in it. It has taken me weeks to fill in those features, and if I try too hard to see the man, I get a horrible migraine_. I am just starting to make out his eyes and…_

_Whir._

I looked up in reaction to the soft noise of air being sliced in time to see an arrow pass a couple of inches in front of my face and imbed itself in the trunk of the car next to us. The arrow sliced through the metal as if it were butter.

Edward dropped down to the ground in response, which caused my stomach to drop and my eyes to look loose focus. Even with his stomach churningly fast movement, he handled me carefully. He laid me down carefully and placed his body directly on top of mine, and his arms carried most of his weight. But I definitely felt the pressure of having his lower body pressed up against me—we were perfectly lined up.

_Nothing. Edward was definitely not happy to see me._

"Edward," I called to him. He was looking around, his head hocked to one side as if he was a dog listening to a noise humans cannot hear. "Edward! " I repeated.

He ran his hands over my sides. He then scooped me up into a hug. "You're okay, my love," he murmured.

I was stunned. It was the first time Edward had ever declared any sort of feeling for me. Did he mean he loved me, loved me? Or was that just a phrase that slipped out because he was flustered?

I was going to file away that tidbit to be examined later. Right now I was not going to be distracted.

"Edward, this is ridiculous," I told him. "The car almost hitting us last month, the tree falling down while we were picnicking in the courtyard, and my car catching fire are _not_ coincidences."

He looked at me with trepidation, appearing afraid to hear what I was going to say.

I decided to just blurt out what I'd suspected for a while, but buried down deep, too terrified to really consider it a possibility. "Edward, someone is trying to kill you. Or at least seriously harm you."

"What?" he practically shouted in surprise. "Me?"

"Yes, Edward, I think that your enormous popularity has brought you some unwelcome attention. I believe you have a stalker or something who wishes you ill."

"Alice, do you really think so?" He stared at me intently, almost as if he could see inside of me. His shocked expression melted into one of fierce concentration.

"Yes, and, Edward, I think we need to go to the authorities with my suspicions," I told him. "We already sound like we're reciting the lines to a B horror movie. Let's not repeat the mistakes of bad-actors-with-plastic-parts-for-brains that end up mutilated by a masked villain. We need to at least report this to campus police immediately."

"I don't know…" he hedged.

"I insist, Edward," I told him. "This person must be stopped before anyone gets hurt."

"I will never let anyone hurt you," he vowed, taking my hand in his and placing it over his heart.

I laced my figures through his. "And I will never let anyone hurt you."

Fate had once again decided that I must stay with Edward. I couldn't leave him alone when it was obvious he needed my help. It was my turn to take care of my boyfriend.

"Alice," I looked up at him and found myself almost lost in his green eyes. "I _do _need you."

The leaf was staying on the tree a little longer.

"Come on," I said, taking charge. I pulled my reluctant boyfriend across campus, into the campus police station, and up to the front counter to make the report.

I rang the bell at the receptionist desk, and an elderly lady in a police sergeant uniform meandered out from the back of the station.

She first carefully looked at Edward, seeming to appreciate his good looks, and then she noticed me.

"Alice," she exclaimed with a bright smile. "We haven't seen you around for ages. Did that jerk who was stalking you finally leave you alone?"

_Apparently this lady knew me BA. And I'd had a stalker back then. Maybe Edward hadn't been the intended victim of these incidents. Maybe I had been._

"Actually, I'm here to report…" Edward began loudly.

As if he'd never opened his mouth, the elderly police lady continued," You never came back to sign that protective order I typed up for you. But I have definitely kept my eye on that feller for you, and he seems to have completely disappeared. So I hope he stopped bothering you."

Edward was still talking, gesturing wildly it seemed, but my world narrowed onto the police sergeant.

"When did he disappear?"

"Bout four months ago, I reckon," she replied.

"What was his name?" I elbowed Edward, who was still blabbering about something. And I heard a whoosh of his breath being drawn in, so I must have made contact with something good.

"I have that name seared into my brain, on account of me keeping an eye on you…"

"Alice, you… need… to…" wheezed Edward. I gave him a slight push to shush him and strained to hear over his groan.

"His name was Jasper Hale."

**Author Note:**

**I know, I know. How could anyone NOT want Edward? **

**Next chapter is Bella's POV and we will be introduced to more of Edward's groupies. Remember, to all who volunteered their names, I only hurt the ones I love. Just ask my best friend/ Twilighted enabler, Jada.**

**As always, I draw inspiration from your reviews. **

**This chapter is dedicated to Conty who is keeping the home fires lit for Jasper. I promise he will be appearing soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Dedicated to everyone who has bugged me for an update. Especially, my forum gallies ****iciri-piciri, tallulahbelle (who has the BEST fanfiction called Elemental), RoseArcadia, conty (who is THE A&J fanfiction aficionado), and dont_run. **

**And there is a special shout out to ****Phileas whose email made me get off my behind and actually publish this chapter. **

**Bella POV**

"So are you ready to go yet or what?" Mike asked, the whine in his voice apparent.

"Stuff it, Mike," snapped Angela. "You're still on probation and you are really getting on my last nerve. You will treat Bella with respect."

"Fucking dog smelling sorceress," Mike muttered not too softly.

Without losing her serene expression, Angela raised her right hand and made a small waive.

I heard a popping noise and where Mike-the-pimply-freshman dweeb once stood was a life size troll doll, complete with plastic skin, synthetic lime green hair shooting up out of its head, and exaggerated features.

"Angela," the monster troll doll protested, "you can't do this to me. You need me!"

"No, _you _need me to prevent the Council from expelling you from the University, asswipe," Angela said, an evil smile crossed her face.

"But I swear that I wasn't the one who painted the girl's locker room with "see through" paint," he complained, pouting. I really hope his face didn't get stuck that way, because the expression was especially unattractive on a troll doll's exaggerated features.

"Well, no one is going to believe you, are they?" Angela challenged.

"You, witch," hissed Mike.

"Thank you," she responded.

"At least change me back," Mike whined.

"As soon as you escort Bella safely on her journey I will turn you back into a toad, don't worry."

"I don't want to be a toad; I want to be myself again!"

"That's what I meant—your toady self."

"Uh, Angela," I interrupted. I'd found out earlier that Mike was Angela's younger cousin and their sibling like fighting was really starting to wear me out. "Can I speak with you for a second?"

Angela looked concerned and accompanied me outside her mother's house to the screened in porch. I sat on the comfy swing, overflowing with cushions, and Angela joined me.

As always, the salty sea air comforted me.

"Do you really think that Mike is the right person to accompany me?" I asked Angela, trying to be diplomatic. It was still disconcerting to see how powerful she was and how easily I too could end up a full size troll doll.

"Yes," she said with a big smile. "I know he is a total dork, but he is the most powerful unmated witch I know. Which means he's alright."

"Yeah, but… well…" I stuttered, unsure how to speak my concerns without sounding egotistical. "Aren't you afraid he's going to want to stalk me or something? You know, like them?" I gestured towards the unmated males in the field.

As soon as I had so much set a toe outside my house, they'd turned their attention towards the house. I could feel almost a hundred male eyes watching my every move. It was really disconcerting.

It must have felt my rise in anxiety because It gave me a sharp kick.

I rubbed the spot below my ribs that had been kicked, which seemed to sooth It and convince It to stop using mommy's insides as a soccer ball for a bit.

Angela burst out laughing. "No, I'm not worried at all. That is why Mike is the _perfect_ escort—he has no interest at all in women. He totally bats for the other side."

"Oh," I said, feeling foolish. "Well, then, I guess I'm ready to go. Please tell your mother how much I appreciated her having me here for the last four months."

"She's really going to miss having you here. I think that is why she chose today to go to the mainland—he just couldn't handle a drawn out goodbye."

"I owe her and you so much," I said softly.

"Bella, you really don't know how much…" Angela looked away, her voice trailing off. She looked back and I was shocked to see a tear in her eye. "You are like a sister to me. You and Alice are the only humans I have ever gotten close to, and the Other community is way too small. Until you two came along I was so lonely. I really only had Rose and my mom, and Rose had Emmett."

"And now you have Jake," I told, struggling against my own tears. Damn these pregnancy hormones.

"Did someone take my name in vain?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

I whirled around quickly, forgetting that I was six months preggers. My lack of grace was ever evident as I stumbled. I prepared to hit the ground but a strong male hand caught me before I could hit the ground.

"Same ol' Bella," Jake joked as he righted me.

"Are you alright, Bella?" asked Angela. She sounded concerned, but she was glaring dangers at the hand Jake still had on my elbow.

I yanked my elbow out of his grasp and took a step away. "I'm fine." After hiding away from all things male for the last couple of months, I couldn't help be suspicious.

Angela one upped my reaction. Polite, reserved Angela actually snarled at me.

"Ba-be," Jake sang out to her. "You are being ridiculous. First of all, I am a mated wolf, and I couldn't actually stray even if I wanted to, which…" he held up his hands in surrender as Angela's right hand stared to raise, "I don't want to 'cause I have the hottest witch in the west to scratch my tummy."

Angela huffed but lowered her hand. "Keep going," she snarled.

"Second, Bella is pregnant. Huge. I mean she's a pretty girl, but being pregnant isn't exactly a turn on for most guys."

I felt the blood pool to my cheeks. _Hi, I am Bella the pregnant unattractive lady._

Jake sauntered behind Angela and pulled her back into his embrace.

"Third, Bella and I were like brother and sister growing up. I don't have those feelings for her. It would be like you having the hots for Mike."

Angela blanched, which made Jake chuckle.

"And, if it helps at all, I feel the same way about Jake," I lied through my teeth. I was might have felt only brotherly affection for Jake, but I hadn't seen in a couple of years and the man in front of me was a stranger.

A good looking stranger. The boy I knew had grown up in a fine specimen, complete with rippling muscles, a square jaw, and a beautiful smile. I wasn't exactly attracted to him, but I definitely could admit he was fine. I guess being a mommy-to-be had killed my desire for the opposite sex.

Looking at tension that was evident in Angela's body language—her shoulders were hunched, her hands clawed, and there was a small tick under her right eye, I decided admitting that I thought Jake was fairly handsome would be a mistake.

Time to change the subject, for sure.

"So, Jake, you're a prince, huh?" I asked, still trying to come to grasp with the idea of Jake as royalty. "Does that mean Billy is a king or something?"

"Billy…. King…" Jake burst out laughing. "Bella, you are such at cut up. I can't wait to tell Billy what Charlie's daughter said." He started chuckling again.

Suddenly I remembered how much Jake had annoyed me growing up, and I realized that he still was very much like an annoying younger brother. Despite the better packaging.

"I wish I could turn you in a troll doll!" I huffed.

This caused Jake to laugh harder. At me.

"Jake, hush," Angela admonished. She took the sting out of her comment by patting Jake's forearm that was clasped tightly around her waist. "Bella, the werewolf clan is matriarchal. Jake isn't really a prince, although he was born to the queen, because he cannot inherit the crown. His sister Leah is considered a princess because she is female and next in line for the thrown. And Billy is actually Jake's foster dad."

I turned to Jake, mouth open wide. "I didn't even know you had a mother. Or a sister."

"It is traditional for the children of the queen to be raised in different locations, so you know if something happens to one heir, the bloodline can still continue," Jake stated matter of factly. "Plus, it is important that a male of the royal family is able to protect the royal females. Billy raised and trained me to be a warrior for our tribe."

"Do you know your biological family?" I asked, unwittingly fascinated by this culture that was so foreign to what I considered normal.

"Of course," he replied. "The reservation's schools are actually in the royal compound. I saw my family all the time. My sister was even my high school biology teacher."

"So that's why you always insisted on going to school on the res!" I exclaimed, thinking about all the times I'd begged him to join me and Alice and Forks High so I'd have another friendly face.

"Okay, I can't handle this anymore!" Angela exclaimed. She broke away from Jake, gave him a small peck on the cheek. He was in the middle of saying goodbye when Angela lifted a hand and zapped him away.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," she said, miserably. "I was just getting more and more jealous. It was killing me that Jake was around an unmated female, especially one who is sending out so many pheromones." She glared at me, and I could see her right hand twitching.

Yeah. It was time for me to go.

"Mike!" Angela and I bellowed in unison.

* * *

"Thanks for the lift, Mike," I told the pimply, greasy haired frosh who was eying my boobs. Wasn't he supposed to be gay? Thanks to being six months preggers, I now really did have boobs. But I truly disliked having this boob stare at them. I just couldn't believe he was actually related to Angela. "You can leave now."

"Um, I don't know if, like, that is the best idea, you know," he stuttered, red staining his bumpy cheeks. And, yes, making him ten times less attractive. "Angela would kill me if something happened to you."

"I am in the Council's chambers, I think I am fairly safe," I replied, lying through my teeth. I was in a large room that looked like a cross from Medieval Times and the Library of Congress. Don't get me wrong, being surrounded by wall to wall books would normally have been a dream come true. But the lack of light in the room, illuminated only by a couple of candles in between shelves, was spooky.

It gave me a kick, and I took a deep breath. It really responded to my moods. If I remained calm, then It was calm and I didn't have to run to the bathroom every five minutes.

"Would you please stop looking at my boobs," I complained. "You're gay, remember."

Yeah, but I swear those things are growing by the minute!" he exclaimed. "They're freakin' mesmerizing. Its like a car wreck or something—I just can't stop watching."

Given the choice of pervy gay Mike or facing a creepy place all by myself, I chose facing the creepiness by myself.

"Go," I ordered, hoping to sound cold but probably just sounding desperate.

Mike gave me a hurt look and disappeared in a poof of sulfuric smoke. I lost it and threw up just inside the doorframe. Friggin' all day long morning sickness.

What was amazing is that after I was able to stand upright again and calm down It, I looked for the vomit so I could—I dunno know given my lack of magic or household cleaning products—clean up my mess. The vomit had disappeared.

Suddenly, the library seemed a lot creepier, yet more desirable because if I stayed here I'd be spared cleaning up after myself three or four times a day. I started giggling hysterically. Yeah, pregnancy made me weird.

A moan sounded from the other side of the room and I lost my voice mid giggle. The sound was caught in my throat, frozen by the knowledge that I was not alone.

I heard another loud moan. This time it was much, much longer so I was able to analyze what I was hearing. It was fairly deep so I was pretty sure it belonged to a male, and it sounded as if its owner was in terrible pain.

Compelled by my concern for this man, I found myself creeping slowly across the room. Only to be stopped short by short stool I failed to see in the dimly lit room. I fell forward, careful to keep my hands forward so my arms would catch the brunt of the fall and not my stomach.

One of the first things I'd researched once I started showing was how to fall without hurting my baby. I knew that with my two left feet, I would be tripping frequently. I wanted to make sure that I knew how to keep It safe.

I managed to land perfectly, my tummy well away from the floor, and although my palms stung, I basically unharmed.

I heard another male groan, but I swear this one sounded like to was trying to suppress a giggle more than give sound to unwanted pain. I debated crawling over the floor to the sound. It was probably safer if I did that then attempt to walk through a dimly lit room.

Suddenly lights flooded the room. I blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the unexpected bright illumination in the room. I realized that I really was in a great, big library, but there was actually a huge bed at the other end of the great room. It appeared empty.

When I heard the heavy sound of footprints I looked towards the door near the center of the room. A tall beautiful, blonde woman entered, her looks were downright angelic.

Her delicate beauty made the fact that she was clutching a body in her arms all the more terrible. She approached me and the bed that was just a few steps away, and I recognized the slight body she held in arms.

It was Alice, and she was not awake.

"Alice," I gasped. "What's wrong with her? What is going on? I don't understand…"

The blond woman smiled at me, and her smile was terrifyingly beautiful.

"Alice is perfectly fine," she said, the terrible smile sending tremors down to my toes. A slightly foreign accent that I couldn't place gave her lovely voice a lyrical edge.

I wanted to rush over and take Alice away from this horrible woman, but I was petrified.

"I see you carry the sorceress' protection. What concerns have you of Alice?"

"She's my best friend," I replied hotly.

"Yet, I haven't seen you in the four months I watched over her."

"I had to go away…" I protested, my voice trailing off.

"She can't mean much to you if you abandoned her, then, can she?"

"Who are you?"

"I am called Dit-ee."

"Why is Alice unconscious?"

Di-tee sighed and gently laid Alice on the big bed. "It is part of the curse placed on her and her mate on the evening of their joining."

Di-tee walked around the bed, and I followed her. Almost as if compelled to do so.

I saw the source of the groaning. For on the floor, by the bed, lay Jasper. He was curled up into a ball. And he did not look good. Where he had once had golden locks, his head was now completely shaved, and his cheeks were sunken. Although his eyes were open, they did not seem to register any real life.

Dit-ee bent over and easily lifted up Jasper. She placed him on the bed next to Alice. Neither moved, but I saw a smile light up the sleeping Alice's face. Jasper's clenched hand's relaxed a tad bit.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because Jasper needs to be fed, so we place the two mates together every night. However, the stubborn boy refuses to properly feed and is slowly wasting away."

"This is horrible!" I declared.

Dit-ee didn't reply, but I saw grief in her eyes before she schooled her features again behind the evil grin.

"I know that you are a mate to an Other, although you appear to still be un-joined," she looked at me disapprovingly. "Who did the fates join you with?"

"Edward Cullen."

"Ah, a cockroach. No wonder you have wisely decided to not join."

"Edward is not a cockroach!" I nearly shouted. My reaction was automatic, and I surprised myself (and It) at my passionate response.

"I apologize for saying that. It was very politically incorrect of me to say," she answered looking tired. She walked over to Jasper and laid a hand gently on his cheek. "I remember well when the General screamed the same thing at the Council. Because of this Incubus, vampires are now a recognized species. He did not deserve to be mated with a human."

"Hey, Alice didn't ask for this either," I protested. "She thought Jasper was this creepy guy who followed her around all the time."

"Jasper is a great, noble Other and a proud…" Dit-ee went off, listing all of Jasper's accomplishments. There were quite a lot since she started with his first foot race as a child of four over a thousand years ago.

She was so wrapped up in her recitation, she didn't even notice when I got bored after ten minutes and started wandering around the room. There were just so many dates and battles that meant absolutely nothing to me. I walked over to one of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and ran my hands along the book shelves, marveling at the strange titles I saw before me. Many were in foreign languages I did not recognize.

"Is your human Alice really worthy of so great a man?" asked Dit-ee at the end of her diatribe. I was ready to blast back in defense of Alice's honor when I realized that Di-tee genuinely wanted an answer.

So I took a deep breath and carefully marshaled my arguments.

"Alice is wonderful person. She is caring, compassionate, and loving. She makes everyone who she meets feel better about themselves. She is a happy person, which is why she is so popular—everyone wants to bask in her joy. And although she does not have thousands of years of accomplishments, I believe that if she was given the opportunity to live that long she would have just as many as Jasper. But her accomplishments would not involve pain or death; instead she'd concentrate on making everything lovelier and everyone around her happier."

"I've been observing her," admitted Dit-ee, her voice almost a whisper, "ever since the joining ceremony. She is the very opposite of Jasper."

"I do not know Jasper very well," I replied. "I was very concerned when Alice and he... first became a couple. I was concerned that the Fates were forcing Alice into a relationship she didn't want, fooling her into thinking she loved Jasper."

Di-tee remained quiet, but I could tell she was considering my words.

"But Alice is not a fighter. She is generally a happy, go lucky person who works hard for what she has but hates conflict. But for Jasper, she was actually willing to fight me and our friends to be with him. She was willing to suffer physical and emotional pain to be by his side. That amazed me. And then I saw how Jasper looked at Alice and I realized how much he prized her."

Di-tee let out a sharp breath.

"And I made my peace with their relationship. It wasn't easy because Alice is like a sister to me, and I feel very protective of her. And after seeing how she faired from Jasper's…attentions, I was ready to do anything to keep Jasper and her apart. But I realized that their relationship was the real thing."

My back was starting to pain me, and I considered sitting on the bed next to Alice but I felt it would be icky to join what was basically an alter to this horrible tragedy.

Instead, I rubbed the small of my back and silently cursed the cowardly jackass Mike for leaving me alone. I'm pregnant, bite me.

"Would you like a chair, child?" Dit-ee asked.

I nodded hesitantly. Di-tee gracefully exited the room and entered shortly thereafter with a low back, lounge type chair. She placed it near the bed. I sat down, and sighed in relief.

"I loved this chair when I was pregnant," she told me. "It provided just the right amount of support to my back."

"So you're a mother?" I asked, surprised because it was hard to imagine someone who exuded such malice could ever be maternal.

"Yes," she replied. The smile left her face and instead her expression became blank.

Because I was nervous, I babbled. "I'm really nervous about being pregnant. This is my first child, and well…the father is out of the picture. Do you have any advice for me?"

The woman froze and her eyes widened in disbelief. I tensed in response, afraid that I'd offended her with my question or by my single status.

"Some man abandoned you?" she said, outraged. "I knew the father couldn't be the damn cockr…._er_ vampire but if he is preventing you from having a family with the father of your baby I will skin him alive."

And I could tell by her expression she believed she could skin Edward alive.

"It's not like that at all," I assured her, clutching my middle. I was suddenly feeling nauseous again. "Baby It was an accident. The father was well out of the picture before I met Edward."

"Well, that's convenient for Edward, isn't it," she muttered. "Baby It?"

"I've decided to wait to find out if I am having a boy or a girl. I want it to be a surprise." Not to mention, I'm probably still in denial that I'm pregnant.

Dit-ee smiled again, but this smile appeared genuine. I actually could feel the warmth from the smile.

"I chose to do the same thing."

I smiled back.

"I don't believe I am the right person to give you advice, child," she said softly. "I had my children so very long ago."

"It couldn't be that long ago," I exclaimed. "Oh, and I am Bella." I felt foolish that I had not introduced myself before.

Dit-ee let out a light giggle. "Bella, I am thousands of years old, my dear."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "I keep forgetting that you Others are immortal. You seem so human."

Di-tee laughed, a deep bellow, which seemed so strange coming from such a delicate creature's eyes.

I sat patiently in my cushiony chair and stared at the star crossed lovers. I felt so bad for them. Unlike Edward and me, they'd actually been a couple and it was outside forces that'd torn them apart.

"How can any parent do this to their child?" I asked aloud.

Di-tee stopped her laughing fit abruptly. "What do you mean?"

"How can any parent make their child so miserable? Practically torture him?"

"You are speaking of Jasper then?" she asked.

"Yes, how could his parents want him to be so miserable?"

Di-tee was silent for a while.

"I might hazard a guess that his parents thought they were protecting him and his legacy. Perhaps they'd been swayed by jealous gossip and rumor about his intended and felt she was unworthy of him."

"Well, then, we've got to tell them the truth. We've got to make them listen to reason."

"I truly admire the blind conviction of the youth that truth will solve all problems," she gave me a sad smile. I felt such sadness from her that I could not help myself. I heaved myself off my chair and gave her a hug. She stiffened for a second and then allowed me to embrace her. She made no move to hug me back.

"Bella, may I touch your belly?" she asked hesitantly, almost shyly.

It was nice that she asked. So many people think a pregnant belly is public property and touch without permission.

Hell, I'd hugged her without permission.

"Yes," I said, and I dropped my arms to my side. Di-tee slowly brought a hand up to my swollen tummy and placed it right over where the baby lay. A foot or hand reached up from within me and punched me in exactly that right place.

Di-tee giggled at the touch. "You are raising quite the punter, aren't you?"

I smiled my agreement.

"Bella, I thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with me. And I bless your pregnancy and offer my protection to your child…to Baby It." Once again she giggled.

"Since I can use all the help I can get, I definitely appreciate it!" I replied. It was nice that she was wishing me luck with my baby.

Di-tee leaned over and planted a kiss on my forehead. The place where her lips had touched my skin burned briefly.

"Would you like to help me get sleeping beauty back to her dorm room?" she asked.

I nodded, and turned towards the bed. What I saw first warmed my heart and then infuriated me. Jasper had reached over and clasped Alice's hand in his own, drawing hers up towards his chest so that it covered his heart.

"I don't understand this," I said, pointing to the clasped hands. "There is nothing wrong with Jasper, right?"

"Nothing, but a broken heart," Di-tee responded dryly, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Well, he's supposed to be this great military General who has never been defeated in any battle. But he's not fighting for Alice."

"He's been forbidden to by the Council."

"Di-tee, if you were forbidden by the Council to fight for your child, would you not? Would you not try everything? How can he give up like this… how can he be so cowardly?"

A keening wail erupted from the bed and I turned to see Jasper was clutching his middle making the ear splitting cry. It continued on incessantly. Di-tee ran over to his side, trying to sooth him by stroking his head and crooning softly to him. But nothing stopped his wail.

The arched doors burst open and Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward burst into the room.

"Bella, what the hell are you doing here with my mother?" Rosalie demanded.

**End Notes:**

**Happy New Year's! **

**Go ahead and throw tomatoes. I will be updating this story when I am able. I am now a junior validation beta for Twilighted and I love guiding new fanfiction authors more than I ever thought possible! **** But it is eating up a lot of my writing time. Don't worry, though, this story keeps haunting me so I will continue to write it. **

**For people who love A&J stories (like me) or who want to enter a contest about A&J, check out ****www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2128870/**** The deadline for entries is January 15, 2010. **

**Lastly, for recommendations and reviews on fanfiction stories, I love ****www(dot)rosearcadia(dot)blogspot(dot) com/?zx=e84dabd00cd17bb7**** Of course, it is run by my best friend, RoseArcadia, but I really respect her taste. Along with each review is a cool banner she's created for each story. **

**Next chapter WILL reveal the baby's daddy. If you guess right in your review, I will confirm privately. Hee-hee. Let's not ruin it for everyone else. **

**Here's the hint I gave everyone in the forums: the guy has never, ever been mentioned in the Good Looking stories. But think like Bella, and who would you sleep with if you thought Edward was unattainable? **


	6. Chapter 6

**Edward POV**

"So you and Di-tee put Alice back to bed every single night, after she's… visited Jasper's room?" Bella asked. I could hear the accusation in her voice. Her anger that I was participating in this farce.

"Yes," I said resignedly. I knew how distasteful my actions were but I couldn't just let Jasper starve to death. I owefd the General so much.

"This isn't our room," stated Bella, looking around Alice's dorm room.

"No, Alice is now living with your former resident advisor, Jada Taylor," I replied. I carefully laid Alice down on her bed and pulled the covers over her slight form. She looked so very small and defenseless when she was asleep like this. Of course, I knew the second she woke she'd be back to her ferocious take-no-prisoners self. She was my little fighter.

"Alice is living with Jada!" exclaimed Bella. "That's crazy. Alice couldn't stand Jada. And Jada is just weird. I don't understand how this could happen."

"Actually, it was my idea," I admitted, giving Bella yet another reason to despise me, I'm sure. "Jada is a fierce warrior in her wolf clan. A true bitch, and I knew Alice would be safe with her."

Bella gave me a strange look. I cursed my inability to read her thoughts again. In theory, I understood why it was a good idea that mated vampires couldn't read each other's thoughts but right now I didn't give a flying fuck for reason. I wanted my mate. Badly.

And I was so confused. Because when I sensed Bella, I now sensed two beings. I could hear two heartbeats and feel the presence of two life forces. In fact, right now I could "hear" the thoughts of the babe she held nestled under her breasts. The baby didn't have organized thoughts per se, but it felt very safe and content.

A baby that was not mine. The very thought ripped me to the core. I was a doctor, so I knew that Bella was in her second trimester and that the baby's conception predated my meeting with Bella and the recognition that she was my mate.

But it was a very bitter pill to swallow. If only I had met her a couple of months beforehand, then she would not be carrying another man's child. I would not be taunted with the knowledge that she'd spread her soft limbs so that some other man could penetrate her and plant his seed.

And I knew that I had no right to be angry that she had slept with another man. No right to feel betrayed. Because it was before me.

But I did feel it.

I was also angry that Bella had the last four months to come to terms with her pregnancy while I only had an hour or so.

I don't think I'd ever felt like a bigger failure then when I first realized Bella was pregnant with child. Something I as a vampire could never give her.

I gestured for Bella to follow me out of the room. I needed to put more space between me and Bella, because I was having trouble keeping myself in check in the small dorm room with her mouthwatering scent permeating the stale air.

We entered into the hallway only to be confronted by Jada.

"What's she doing here, Edward?" Jada hissed at me. I tried not to hold her unarticulated thoughts against her but I could feel my temper rise as the bitch thought really horrible things about my Bella. I saw her thoughts of attacking Bella before she even sprang.

I reached out a hand and brought Jada down just as she was transforming into a werewolf. My interference surprised her enough that she stopped transforming into a werewolf and actually reversed back to her human form.

Typically, the last thing any smart, sane vampire would do is interfere with an angry bitch and her prey. But I knew Jada wouldn't hurt me, the man she adored, and I was far from sane right now after the shock of finding my mate again, pregnant.

I rolled on top of Jada to keep her pinned down, because I did not want to actually harm her. Of course, during her partial transformation most of her clothes had torn off. So now I had an angry, naked bitch thrashing underneath me while my pregnant-by-an-unknown-man mate watched.

"Chill, Jada," I hissed at her.

Jada immediately stopped struggling against me, and instead started kissing the side of my neck while both her hands grabbed my neck.

"Oh," I heard Bella gasp, and I heard the dorm room door slam. My best guess was that my mate had just run away from me. Again.

"Stop," I screamed at Jada and pushed her off me. She crashed through the far wall. So much for my effort to try not to harm her, I'd misjudged my strength and her lack of resistance.

I moved to run after Bella before she could disappear from my life again and realized I was stuck. I couldn't run after my mate, because then I would be leaving Alice alone, defenseless with an enraged werewolf. I checked Jada's thoughts, and realized that mercifully she was out cold. But then I still couldn't leave Alice unprotected against other possible threats. Even to pursue my other half.

I could, however, at least open the front door and check to see if Bella was in the hallway. I practically flew to the doorway and yanked the door clean off its hinges.

Only to take a step back at what I saw: in the doorway stood a petrified Bella, and pressed closely behind her was Tallulah the were-dragon with her sharp claws around my mate's neck. Thankfully she was only partially transformed, but even a demi dragon is deadly. Behind her stood Jessica the sea hag and Marisa the harpy. Both looked menacing despite their matching sorority t-shirts and pink nail polish.

All three of the Others' thoughts were filled with anger and disgust towards Bella, and the images of what they wanted to do to her were blood curdling. Their hatred made my own dissatisfaction and anger towards her seem petty in comparison.

These girls were out for blood. They wanted to make Bella pay because she'd rejected me, and conversely they wanted to hurt her because they wanted to make sure she could never have me. Never take me away from them.

"Gir…I mean, ladies," I said. "Please let's be rational…"

Before I could finish my sentence, Tallulah struck. I saw in her thoughts that she intended to actually inure herself to me by offering me Bella's entrails. At least that is what she meant to happen when she tried to slice her way into Bella's large stomach.

What actually happened was that her claws bounced off an invisible force field that briefly became visible around my mate. Tallulah screamed as an energy force exploded and propelled her through the dorm room's one big window. The glass splintered into a zillion pieces, barely missing the prone forms of Alice and Jada.

For the life of me, even though I'd sworn a blood oath to protect Alice, I couldn't have moved an inch to guard her from the glass. I was literally paralyzed by fear for my mate, who I had been unable to protect from Tallulah's claws. I would never forget the fear I felt.

I growled and prepared to throw myself in front of Bella just as Jessica and Marisa started to approach her. However, I froze again when a large lightning bolt hit the floor in front of the Others, causing them to shriek and leap back. Where the lightening stuck, stood a regal looking Aphrodite.

"You dare to touch one of my charges," she screamed, her voice a thousand times worse than fingernails scratching along a chalkboard. Jessica, Marisa, and I all fell to our knees, grasping our hands over our ears. Only Bella appeared unaffected.

"Please," cried Jessica, sniveling. "Pardon us, madam elder. We did not know this human carried your blessing."

"Ignorance is no excuse," Aphrodiate shrieked, causing all three her victims to fall to the floor and writhe in agony. I was not only hearing the voice with my own head, but I was hearing echoes of it from Jessica and Marisa's thoughts. My own agony was tripled because of my gift.

"Di-tee, you're hurting Edward," Bella said. I could hear an urgency in her voice. Even though I was suffering, a part of me was overjoyed that she cared enough to intercede on my behalf. Yes, I am a sick, masochistic idiot.

"They have suffered enough, Di-tee," Bella murmured. "You are upsetting me and the baby."

Instantly, the others and I were freed of the torturous pain I had been in.

Both Jessica and Marisa had tears streaming down their eyes, and they literally crawled backwards towards the elevators, not daring to lift their heads off the floor lest they annoy Di-tee again.

"Tell all the other sluts who have been pining after this cockroach that I will not be as merciful to anyone else who dares to harm my charge," commanded Di-tee.

"Your highness," I said, some long lost shred of decency demanding I try to right all wrongs. "These ladies have been risking their life to protect Alice. I believe they are Others of the highest regard, but they are being affected by the curse of the Fates."

"Are you sure this cockroach is your mate?" Di-tee asked, almost desperately. As if she didn't know who I was. As if I wasn't the _cockroach_ who picked up Alice everyday after we force-fed Jasper.

She and I had an uneasy truce at best, and I was unsure if she even knew my given name. To her, and the other high ranking members of the Others Council, all vampires were cockroaches.

Except when in the presence of their General Jasper Hale who demanded that all Others treat vampires with respect. Too bad Jasper never took his seat on the Council, because he could have helped…

"Yes, Di-tee, Edward is my mate," Bella said, biting her lip.

Di-tee huffed and sneered at me. She then turned and embraced Bella and laid a kiss on her brow before disappearing.

I was shocked. I had never seen Aphrodite display any affection towards either Jasper or Rosalie, her own flesh and blood. But she'd gifted my own mate with a kiss.

What did this mean?

***************

We'd spent the last hour cleaning up the room and the glass had been replaced by a female, unattached fairy Lauren who was only too happy to help me. She studiously ignored Bella, though. I could see in her thoughts that she was terrified of offending my mate and incurring Aphrodite's wrath. How weird was it that I was actually grateful to that goddess wannabe?

I turned to my mate who was stretched out on the floor between Jada and Alice, both of whom were still unconscious.

"Bella, I don't know what to say, or where to begin," I stated, running my hands through my heair. "I just don't want you to leave again. Please say you won't leave me."

"You're the one who left me first, Edward," she replied sadly.

_What_? I searched my memory, which contained over a century's worth of perfectly preserved memories, for when I might have met Bella before, let alone left her.

"I… I've never left you before, Bella."

"You knew me as Izzy."

Izzy.

Bella.

Izzy.

Bella.

Izzy.

Bella.

Isabella.

IzzyBella.

And my world came crashing down. _Sweet, sweet Izzy_. The one human being who'd been able to get past all the barriers and prejudices, and take up residence in my heart. The little girl who had been so brave, so sweet. Who'd come up with the sweetest, most innocent fantasies about how I was her fairy prince.

The little girl I tried very hard not to notice growing up. Becoming a woman. Because, for the first time in my life, I had actually felt something very, very close to desire. And it was a twelve year old female human.

At first, I'd lied to myself and pretended it was just brotherly or fatherly affection. But my entire world began to revolve around my weekday dinners with my princess. First began gossip amongst the human hospital staff. Even worse, I heard the unspoken, hideous speculation behind their fairly benign whispers. Then Bella's father, Chief Swan, had spoken to me about boundaries, while mentally girding himself for a fairly in-depth background check on the possible "sicko". And then even my father, who never cared about anything as mundane gossip, realized something was unusual about my relationship with the pubescent Izzy and started to wonder.

But it wasn't until Jasper visited me one evening at the hospital, after I'd just finished dinner with my darling Izzy, that I was confronted by my true emotions.

"So who's the hot babe that's got you so worked up?" Jasper had asked me, a huge smile on his face. "You seem actually happy for once."

Shocked because I'd had no idea what he was speaking about, I'd delved in deeply into his thoughts only to find out this was the first time that he ever felt me "turned on". He was feeling lust radiating from me.

Even though I had not been consciously aware of it, I had been lusting after my darling Izzy.

Disgusted and horrified beyond belief, I turned and fled

"I had to leave, Bella," I said softly.

"Why Edward? How could you leave me without so much as a goodbye?"

"Because I realized I wanted you." I could not lie to my mate. It was for her own good that I showed her that I was a monster.

"W-what?"

"I'd never wanted another human being so much. I'd never desired anyone before and I found myself…"

"Oh my god."

"I know," I said, placing my head in my hands. Still, completely disgusted with myself. "You were a child, Bella. Barely starting puberty, and I was a lecherous old man sniffing after your skirts. I had to get away, to protect you."

I waited for Bella to yell at me. To leave me forever.

And I was shocked when I still heard her breathing in the room.

"I thought you left because you didn't want me. Because I wasn't worth it."

I looked up, horrified that my princess Izzy, my beautiful Bella, could ever have thought so lowly of herself.

"No, Izzy… Bella," I rushed, my words pouring forth without any prior consideration on my part. "I'm the monster. The—the sicko."

"You never acted inappropriately with me," she stated softly.

"No, thank the goddess, no," I replied. "I didn't even realize how inappropriate my feelings were towards you until I left you."

"Where did you go?"

"I traveled through Asia and part of Eastern Europe," I replied. "Jasper was waging battle against a tribe of _Obours_, and I followed along."

"_Obours?"_

"Uh, angry spirits of the recently deceased who have a shelf life of about forty days and try to do as much damage as possible before they say their big farewell. They're venom is poisonous and they spread like cockroaches."

"I wish I had known," she replied. "It would have changed so many things."

"You were twelve, Bella. I couldn't destroy my sweet Izzy with my perversions."

"So instead you deserted her."

"To protect her, yes, I left her."

"Izzy suffered without your presence, Edward. It was like you took away my sun, my reason for living."

"Better than I act on my feelings. I would have never forgiven myself." I looked at her and saw tears streaming down her eyes. "Izzy, I have hated myself ever since then. Especially, because I was never able to forget you. Never able to feel anything for anyone else, until I ran into this wonderful, beautiful _adult _woman whom I knew the fates had designated for me."

"Edward," she lay her soft cheek against an arm and looked a me with red rimmed eyes, "is it possible you were starting to feel the mating bond when I was twelve?"

Thousands of years ago it was not unusual for Others to mate at a young age, after puberty had hit, but I knew of no couple who had done so recently. It was interesting that I could not read Bella now, but I could read every sweet though in Izzy's head. I took a deep breath as again my world tumbled. "I don't…I don't know, Izzy. I think I need to think about it, maybe talk to my parents about it."

"You have been assuming the worst about yourself for so long," she replied. "Maybe you were just recognizing we were meant to be."

"Damn the fates," I hissed. "First, for putting you in my life too early, and then for putting you in my life too late."

I looked down at her stomach. My eagle-like vision caught movement, like a shark fin gliding through the water, of her child moving within her.

Bella started laughing, but it was cold, shallow laugh. "Maybe it wasn't the fault of the fates. Maybe it was my fault for not waiting longer for my prince."

"That's not possible, Izzy," I replied, hating the callousness I was hearing. "You're practically perfect, princess."

"But I'm not Izzy anymore, Edward." And she burst into tears.

Being the incompetent male boob that I am, I walked up to her and awkwardly put my arms around her shoulder. "Do not cry, my beautiful Bella."

"But I've ruined everything, haven't I?" she cried. "If only… if only…."

I held her until her cries subsided and her body stopped quaking.

"Bella, I want you," I replied. "More than because you are my mate, more than because you are my princess Izzy, but because I feel good about myself when I am around you. I know this sounds corny, but I feel whole around you, something I haven't felt in…"

"In ten years, three months, and twenty-two days," she replied.

_The day I left Forks Hospital so long ago after my enlightening conversation with Jasper._

"I feel the same way, but I… I am pregnant, Edward."

I couldn't help it, the rollercoaster of emotions this conversation had put me through made her comment about her very obvious condition hysterical, and I burst out laughing.

Bella waited patiently for me to finish all my giggles. And possibly a couple of snorts.

"It's not funny, Edward," she said quietly. I could hear the fury underneath her calm.

"I know, love," I replied. "But I have been very aware of your pregnancy since I first saw you in the Other's library."

We stared at each other for a while, each trying to figure out how to approach the giant white elephant that was in the room.

"Who's the father, Bella?" I asked, trying to sound cool and collected. I'm sure if I were still alive my heart would have been racing a thousand miles an hour and I would have been sweating like a teenage boy picking up his junior prom date.

"When you left, Edward, I spent years shut down. Emotionally. After that every man I met, I compared to you and found lacking. But I felt I didn't deserve you, my fairy prince. So I let those men do things to me, because honestly I didn't care very much about myself."

Too bad Jasper wasn't here, because the anger I felt at her words would have kept his battery charged for centuries. I wanted to demand the name of each of these curs, so I could punish them for sullying my beautiful princess. For not appreciating and nurturing the one person I would have given my very soul for.

I was about to argue her very obvious worth, when she placed her hand on my mouth to stop my protestations.

"I found myself lonely and depressed, despite the fact that I had really good friends like Alice and Angela. Ever since I'd turned thirteen, I hadn't been very close to my parents."

_That's my fault, too, wasn't it? _I had left her just before her thirteenth birthday.

"And I was jealous of Alice's close relationship with her parents. I decided…I decided I wanted to have a baby."

"Bella…" my voice trailed off, as I tried to process this new information. Thank goodness I didn't have a working heart, because I don't think it could've survived all these revelations.

She sighed. "I selfishly wanted someone who I knew would love me. Who I could shower with all this love I felt pent up inside me."

I made a strangled sound, but Bella continued, ignoring my reaction. She kept her gaze focused on Alice, refusing to meet my eyes.

"I looked for prospective sperm donors. I was too broke to go to a sperm bank so I decided I was going to do it the old fashioned way. I wanted some guy I could use and then discard, who wouldn't want anything to do with my baby."

This time I growled. She paused, looked at me, and gave me a wan smile, before gazing once again at Alice.

"I'm pre-med," she stated. "You're really the only person who knows that. I kind of led Alice to think I was an English lit major, because, you know, I read all the time. But I wanted to be a doctor, just like my fairy prince. So I was volunteering at the local hospital six months ago and I met this attractive doctor who was on fellowship from England, who was a bit of womanizer."

My hands crashed through the floor and the concrete I grabbed turned to dust in my fists.

"So I lied and told him I was on the pill and allergic to condoms. Two months later when I confirmed I was pregnant, I told him and he thankfully dumped me."

I growled and shredded a woman's shoe.

"And the very next day, I walked into my dorm room and found my fairy prince again."

"What. Is. His Name," I demanded.

"Edward, don't be foolish," she looked directly at me and replied with a sheepish smile. "He's already back in England."

Bella was obviously quite innocent in the ways of vampires and how quickly we traveled. I could run and swim nonstop and be in merry old London by tomorrow, stopping to maybe snack on a whale on the way. They were surprisingly tasty. Second only to mountain lions in taste.

"Name, Bella."

"Robert Pattinson," she replied. "I chose him because he bore an uncanny resemblance to my fairy prince."

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, considering yanking it all out by its roots.

"That's because the inconsiderate prick is my great grand nephew."

**Author Notes:**

**Yeah, I suck. I know.**

**Thank you to all my own personal stalkers who have emailed, reviewed, or posted on the forum. Without you, I would have procrastinated even longer. I am a perfectionist and I honestly hate the feeling of posting a new chapter. I am always convinced everyone will hate it.**

**Insecure twit. I know.**

**Please be sure to thank RoseArcadia and TallulahBelle for sharpening the axes (I am buring their copies of Misery).**

**Thank you to everyone who guessed. I probably suck for pulling the whole Edward-Rob triangle, too, but I promise there is a reason that will make sense.**


	7. Chapter 7

**JPOV**

It hurt. It hurt so badly. I rocked back and forth, feeling it ripping me from within. Endless but for my nightly reprieve, when I got a shallow feeding. But never enough to fill the void. A temporary warmth that only made the following emptiness so much more acute.

To have felt full. To have had paradise in my grasp and then to have lost it. I was so tired. I'd fought the hunger for so long. Now I lacked the will to fight anymore.

But an annoying voice kept calling me a coward.

Me. Leader of the Warrior Caste for the Council of Others. A coward.

I found something that was stronger than my pain. Stronger than even the ever punishing hunger.

_Stronger than my love for Alice? _

I shied away from thoughts of love immediately. It just hurt so much to think about, making the pain unbearable once again.

But I was General Jasper of Hale. Lord of the Whitlock holdings in the great and mighty State of Texas. I did not…wallow.

My enemies thought they'd defeated me by denying me the one thing I ever really wanted..._ Fuck, stop thinking about that…about her. It's counterproductive, you yellow belly snake._

It was time to stop fighting who I was. A true military man assesses his strengths and his enemy's weaknesses, and attacked with all his might, even if he knew he might lose the day. As long as his cause was just.

I forced open my eyes. And saw nothing. And panicked. _Am I blind?_

I took a deep breath—_what the hell is that goddess awful smell?_—and forced my panic back down. I tried to logically assess the situation, even though my brain was racing a million miles a minute.

_No, I am not blind. Only in a pitch black room. Absent all light._

I slowly forced my ravished body to its feet. I could feel that I was just skin and bones. A mere shell of my once fit physique.

But, damn it, I was standing on my own two feet.

_Alright, now I am sitting again. On what appears to be a soft bed_.

I forced myself up on my feet again and felt myself swaying back and forth. Drawing in on my endless supply of pride and arrogance, I planted my feet and willed myself still.

I reached out, a blind man groping to find his place in the universe, and took a step forward and then another step further. I felt something at the edge of my finger tips and edged slowly until my hands lay flat against the objects in front of me.

_Books. On a bookshelf. _

I moved horizontally to my left and followed the line of bookshelves. I deduced that I was in some type of library, but what was that horrendous smell?

Suddenly the lights flooded on and I was truly blind. Even behind closed lids, the light pricked my overly sensitive, long unused eyes.

I heard a huge gasp. "He's awake!"

I recognized the voice at once.

"Matri?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I cringed because I had not called out for mother since I had learned to walk.

And then something I had not experienced in over a thousand years occurred: my mother hugged him. I mean truly embraced me. I felt her strong arms wrap around my arms and pull me close to her.

So shocked was I, my arms remained loose at their sides. My mother didn't seem to care; she kept me close to her.

And then I realized she was feeding me, forcing her energy into my own. And although it did not to ease the sharp, gnawing hunger, my weak muscles stopped protesting as much.

As I opened my eyes and looked around the elaborate library located in the heart of my childhood home, I realized she was saying something over and over again, in the ancient Greek tongue of my childhood.

"Forgive me." Over and over again, in a soft chant.

Before I had time to truly process anything, anger, a true fury, swept through me.

My mother flinched and let go of me. I immediately felt the loss of contact and of the life-force she'd been feeding me. My anger, though, gave me energy to proceed. The heat of it helped push back the hunger, and finally, finally I felt like I could think.

"Never," I hissed at my mother, refusing to look at her face, and instead staring at a point somewhere over her left shoulder.

She bowed her head, and I ignored the waves of pain and guilt that emanated from my mother. _Some manipulative trick to keep me under her control._ But having practically raised Rosalie meant that I was immune to the emotional exploitation of a succubus.

I marched out of the hallway and the stench that I'd suffered from in the library followed. I ignored it, more focused on my goal at hand. The hallway was lined with floor-to-ceiling windows and although I refused to look anyway but forward, I could tell from the corner of my eye that it was day outside. Judging by the shadows in the hallway it was late afternoon, nearly twilight.

"Jasper," I heard my mother call, her voice breaking on the last syllabus. _She truly is an excellent actress. _If I didn't know better, I'd think my mother was truly heartbroken over her past actions.

But I knew my mother's true loyalty and love ran to her own ambitions and schemes: her own sense of duty to the Others and her vision of the future for her kingdom. And I refused to ever, ever be a puppet for either my parents or the Council ever again. I was a complete dupe to have believed I owed them any duty or loyalty.

The hallway led to a set of ornate, golden doors: doors that I had never entered before without invitation. Without even waiting for a steadying breath or a chance to second guess the plan I'd cobbled together on my brief stroll through the hallway, I kicked open the damn doors.

And thank the goddess they opened 'cause if I'd been in the Council's position I would have warded them against me. But then the Council members were bureaucrats or sniveling nobleman, they wouldn't know a practical idea if it bit them on their well brown nosed asses.

_Which is why those asses were about to be grass._

The lounging assholes all looked up as I strolled through the splintered doors. I mentally patted myself on the back because my timing was impeccable. Everyone was seated nicely at the large round table in the center of the room: I'd interrupted the afternoon session of the Council.

"Jasper," my father thundered, "about time you got your act together. But couldn't you have put on some clothing or taken a bath before reporting for duty, son?"

_Shit, I guess the smell was coming from me._

I noticed Lady Jane of the Gargoyles Clan cast a coy glance at my lower middle area, and I felt a small glimmer of embarrassment before I squashed it ruthlessly.

"Why?" I demanded, looking at the beings I had only served dutifully, without question, for centuries.

"We couldn't afford for our sovereign prince and future ruler to be distracted by a human," answered my father stiffly "You disappeared for almost a year to pursue a mere mortal, abandoning your responsibilities to the Council."

"I am not a member of the Council, and I have never agreed to take over leadership of the Council," I protested. Those were my parent's plans, not mine. " I am entitled a mate."

"You are the Council's warrior, the General of its armies. You had no right to endanger us and the peace of our land because you couldn't figure out how to lay with a _human_," sneered Aro, who was seated to the right of my father. Aro was one of the three heads that shared the same Volturri body. Somehow each of the three heads of the one Volturri Hydra body was considered a separate member of the Council. .

"She made you weak," sneered head number two, Caius. "She does not have the pedigree to be such a strong influence on a leader of the Others."

"She became a Muse, one step below a Fate," I protested. "She could have been trained."

"She made you weak," repeated Caius. "You joined with her once and you fell into a coma like a weak schoolgirl."

"You were denied her company, and instead of fighting for her you curled up into a pitiful ball for the last four months," Aro smoothly took up the argument. "She is your weakness, something our enemies can exploit easily. You are not fit to lead our armies, much less our Council."

Marcus, the third head, merely arched an eyebrow at me and hoarsely muttered, "We must be strong."

"So this was all about politics? You felt unsafe? My loyal service for over a thousand years was not enough? What enemies have I left standing for you to be so afraid? The Giants are a weak shell of their former glory, the Niads bow to your ever whim…please tell me this isn't about the vampires…"

I trailed off as I realized what this was about. The Council was punishing me for championing the cause of the vampires. When they thought I was the mate of the son of the Vampire's leader, they'd felt the vampires were under their control. Ironic, that the Council felt the vampires were not a threat if I was mated to Edward, but Alice as my mate changed the balance.

Vampires, whose numbers could easily outnumber our own in a couple of years. Vampires, who had championed Alice and presented her at our joining ceremony. Carlisle, their leader, acting as her surrogate father.

Alice, who was best friends with the Council's sorceress. And that didn't even count her connections to Emmett, Rosalie, and Jake. All royalty in the realm of the Others.

As I realized the small mindedness and bigotry in the room that had allowed my former friends and family to betray me, I burned white hot.

"I will show you weak," I roared.

Only my father had an inkling of what I was about to do, of what I was capable of doing.

"Jasper, wait," he began, trying to sound sensible.

I let go. Let go of my control, of my pain, and became what I had denied for so long. A life-stealing incubus.

I let each being in the room feel the pain that I'd suffered for a millennium. All around me Council members shrieked as if their skin was on fire and they were burning up alive. I paid special attention to the Volturri hydra, who was now laying on the floor writhing in pain. The hydra was bent backward at an unnatural angle, locked in pain, as the veins in each of the heads' long necks swelled up and looked ready to explode.

And I smiled as I harvested their pain and misery. These were some of the most powerful beings the earth had ever known and they were helpless against me. Too arrogant to understand that I was no longer their toady.

The rush of energy was magnificent. I looked down and saw my body filling out. A light glowed from underneath my skin and my senses sharpened. I felt glorious, and I wanted more. So even though I was more than full, I gluttonously fed, thriving on the tortured screams from the beings around me.

"I can give you back Alice," said a voice to my left. I spun around to confront the bastard who would even utter her sweet name in my presence.

It was James. Standing in front of me, grinning. Apparently unaffected by my powers. I wanted to attack so badly, but my training cautioned me to hold back until I could find the Fate's weakness. A visible Fate was a new phenomena and I was not sure what his powers truly were or if he could even be hurt.

"Alice is human now," I told him coldly. "She has forgotten about me and has continued with her life."

"She was made to forget," James replied, his smirk unbearable. "And she is so vulnerable right now; only protected by vampire, your best friend. She believes she loves him, you know." I took a step forward, ready to throw caution in the wind and wrap my fingers around his scrawny neck. He raised his hand as if to caution me. "There is nothing stopping you from being with her again."

"Can you grant her immortality again?" I hissed, incredulously.

"No." The smirk remained in place.

"Then she will die too shortly and I will be back her in this same room, doing the same to these same beings." I sent out a new waive of pain, harvesting back groans and screams for my effort. "Only next time I will not have the element of surprise and it might be… harder to accomplish my goals."

"And what are those goals?"

"To make these bastards suffer for the next thousand years." Now I had someone wailing and I felt gluttonous. Sickly full, as if I could vomit power. I looked down at my hand as was momentarily captivated by the energy spilling forth from my fingertips.

"And while you do this, who will make sure that the fractions do not war amongst themselves? Who will keep the veil of secrecy from the mortals?"

"I. Don't. Give. A. Fuck." My long fingers curled into a fist.

"Is Alice worth so little?"

I started. And found that I burned through so much of my pain that could clearly envision my love without cringing.

"She is everything," I whispered, wondering for the first time if Edward truly was up to the challenge of guarding such a special creature.

"More than your vengeance?"

An image of Alice with her happy emotions sparkling all over popped into my head, breaking the outpouring of pain I'd been saturating the room with. There were many sighs of relief.

"Yes, But I cannot bear losing her again."

"Humans die. So easily."

And this time I roared and attacked, unable to escape my rage. James easily avoided my charge by leaping straight up and I found myself crashing through one of the room's windows.

I shoved the glass off my arms and chest and shook it out of my hair: I absently noticed the plethora of cuts and scratches on my body. I did, though, take a deep breath of fresh air and it centered me. And more images and memories of Alice came crashing through my defenses.

Alice trying on four inch heels. Alice bending over to pick up a piece of litter and her skirt rising up to heavenly heights. Alice's soft lips. Alice's laugh.

I crashed down to the floor, wheezing.

"Oh, for goddess's sake," James complained, "get a fucking grip."

Without my anger, all I had to draw on was my pride, which gave me the strength to look up at James.

"What can I do to be with her again?"

"What are you prepared to give up?"

"Everything."

"These assholes here," James indicated the members of the Others Council's, many of whom were trying to stand, some of whom did not move at all, "will never stop bothering you because you are next in line for leadership."

"I renounce it." I stated firmly.

I heard my father's strangles, "No!" And my blood boiled at Aro's excited hiss, but I ignored it. Nothing was as important as getting back to Alice.

"The Council will try to punish you for this little stunt today."

"Fuck 'em." This pronouncement was followed by many outraged gasps.

"I think there is a way to get them off your back and to ensure you will never be parted from Alice again," said James mysteriously, a wide grin across his face.

"Tell me," I ordered.

"I could make you say pretty place," he replied snidely, lifting a brow, "but I suspect you will learn humility soon enough."

"Tell me.," I took a deep breath and sacrificed a General's pride, "please."

"Become mortal," he replied, "then you are outside of the realm of the Council."

"And I can be mortal with Alice," I stated softly, joy flooding through my every part. As a mortal, I could have children without worrying about creating soul sucking monsters. I could grow old with my love, not have to worry about living an eternity without her.

"Yes," I stated.

I heard my mother being to wail, but didn't bother to even spare her a glance.

James reached over and touched my shoulder, a sharp pain flaring throughout my body and the world went white..

**Author Note:**

**Is anyone still interested in seeing how this all ends?**


End file.
